2019/2/11: Guide is (mostly) current as of Patch 6.1, "Season 6." King Arthur and Merlin added, minion info updated. ADC builds updated. Starting itemization adjusted here and there. Added a "Playing From Behind" section in the Lane Minions & Strategies section in the Conquest Overview chapter. Deleted the God Guides reference section as it was way too difficult to upkeep. Continued WIP, as maps need to be updated (waiting for SMITE Wiki to provide those).

2018/1/31: Guide is current as of Patch 5.1, "Season 5." Cerberus added, all info updated for the new season. Meta has not been established. I've tried to provide as much reasonable information as possible, but will likely need to revise as the meta is formed. Also, there is a lot of information, so I may have missed some things. Please let me know if you spot anything suspicious!

2017/3/29-30: Guide is current as of Patch 4.5, "Celestial Voyage." Rituals have been taken out. Cernunnos added to ADC and Jungle lists. Tier lists updated. Referenced god guide list has been updated.

2017/3/1: Guide is current as of Patch 4.3, "Valley of Victory." Kuzenbo from Patch 4.2 added. Some adjustments to starting items and processes.

2017/2/1-4: Guide is in full release form. All maps and warding are updated, and starting items/starting processes finalized for now. Also added console communication information. Made corrections. Added links to DukeSloth's S4 Conquest Overview video. We expect some changes for 4.2.

2017/1/28-1/30: Guide is updated in preliminary state for Season 4, Patch 4.1. Updated items include references to general Conquest details, and Minion/Objective details. Also revised but under heavy scrutiny are starting items and starting processes for all roles, as well as gameplay strategies. These will be watched closely, with adjustments and additional options provided as the meta develops.

Not updated at this time are Tier Lists, and all references to individual god guides should be checked before use (see revision dates and notes).

2016/12/20: Guide is current as of Patch 3.24, "Journey to HRX." Updated Reddit and TenTonHammer tier listings.

2016/12/06: Guide is current as of Patch 3.23, "Wings of Victory."

2016/11/21: Guide is current as of Patch 3.22, "Fafnir's Wonderland." Major aesthetic adjustments.

2016/11/09-10: Guide is current as of Patch 3.21, "Arbiter of the Damned." Slight adjustments to ADC builds, with influence from DukeSloth's recent YouTube video. Added a section in the Introduction about toxicity, and organized for better separation of topics. Updated Prism's Tier List.

2016/9/12: Guide is current as of Patch 3.17, "The Odyssey 2017." Worked with Prism to update our Support tier list. We're going to be watching to see if Ninja Tabi is going to be picked up more by ADCs in the early going, or remain a late-game switch, and will adjust as necessary.

2016/8/29: Guide is current as of Patch 3.16, "Fatal Awakening." Added Izanami to the hunter list.

2016/8/2: Updated info based on Patch 3.14, "Force of Nature." Added Terra to Support group...will wait to see if she works in other roles as well. Added Venenu ADC build and added a bit more detail on all ADC builds. With the restoration of Potions of Might...I'm holding off on mentioning these, since they're not starter items anymore. They appear overpowered, and will likely see tweaks. Just don't see where I'll fit them into the guide right now.

2016/7/19-21: Updated info based on Patch 3.13, "Valkyrie Reloaded." Potions of Might have been temporarily removed from the game, and will likely not be starter items when they return, so starting item suggestions utilizing these have been removed. Updated TenTonHammer's and Dr. Yoshi's Reddit Community Tier List. Updated Hunter builds, since Soul Eater was nerfed. Removed significantly outdated guide references, unless their builds still seem relevant. Added some new guides to the list. Dropped Fenrir as an early-kill Support (bye bye Potion of Magical Might). Other minor edits.

2016/7/5-6: Updated info based on Patch 3.12, "Mid Season Update." Throwing Dagger/Golden Bow have been removed, so Hunter builds have been revised. Added Erlang Shen to the Jungler and Solo categories. Added Relic suggestions for all roles. Minor update to ADC starting process. Updated Prism's Support Tier List and commentary. Updated DucksRock's ADC Tier List and commentary. Minor cosmetic adjustments. No Pro tier lists are up-to-date yet...will update as these become available.

2016/6/22-23: Updated hunter builds. Clarified role of "ADC" as also being called "Carry" for PS4 players (ADC is still standard name in most body of text, Carry added in key areas). Added further detail and organization in the Overview Structures/Objectives section (thanks, Kelton The Great!). DucksRock's commentary is live. Prism's tier list is updated, though commentary is not.

2016/5/6: Minor corrections. Added several guides to the reference section. Gave the reference section the same look (w/ headers) as the others for consistency.

2016/5/4: Per great suggestion by KingScuba from the Official Smite Forums, I've expanded the minion discussion in the Conquest Overview chapter, including more detailed information and strategies revolving around our little buddies.

Season 6 hit on February 5th, 2019. There have been some adjustments to how Conquest is played compared to Season 5. Here are some of the key changes:

Cross-Play: PC, XBox One, and Nintendo Switch players can now team up to play with/against each other in normal (casual) Conquest and other modes. There is an option in the settings menu to restrict cross-play if preferred.

Role Queue: Normal and Ranked Conquest will now have role queue, where you select your top 2 roles. The system will try to match you up to give you one of these assigned roles (though not guaranteed). Also, duo-queuing ranked Conquest is now available again!

Elixir of Speed: a new item for Conquest only. Costs 1,500 gold, and provides a permanent 18% movement speed boost. Does not stack with standard MS items such as Tabi/Greaves/Shoes, and is meant to replace those items and allow for an extra item slot for a different item.

New Objective: Totem of Ku has been added in the jungle next to the Solo Lane. Jungle entrances to the Solo Lane have been changed due to this addition. See the Conquest Overview chapter for further information.

Welcome! This is a guide for SMITE's Conquest mode, designed to apply on a high level to general gameplay and tips, rather than focusing on individual gods or builds.

The most competitive and longest duration mode in SMITE, Conquest comes in both casual and ranked versions. It provides the ultimate conglomeration of all aspects of SMITE gameplay and strategy, including 1 v 1, jungling, build efficiency, counter-building, teamfighting, communication, and taking objectives.

This guide targets the following players:

New players looking for general information on the most competitive and comprehensive mode in SMITE

Regulars looking for a refresher or to possibly learn a helpful tip or two

Coverage of strategic gameplay elements, including warding, awareness, and communication

This guide is NOT designed to cover all of the intricacies and in-depth information required to be an extremely successful ranked player, though the basics contained herein can help you prepare. As such, it will not cover topics such as picks and bans, or individual god strategies. With the exception of the ADC / Carry, I will also not be discussing complete builds, as there are many variations for building and counter-building for each role.

*NOTE FOR TRUE BEGINNERS*

If you're a true beginner, and you've stumbled upon this guide, it might be better if you start at the very beginning. That beginning is:

Keep in mind that it IS outdated, but the core information still applies.

*NOTE ON TOXICITY*

SMITE is a MOBA. As such (unfortunately), you can expect to encounter toxicity in some of your matches. The easiest suggestion is to group with like-minded individuals / friends that are okay with you not being perfect (or anywhere close to...). Unfortunately, you won't always be able to do this.

If you're able to brush nasty comments off, more power to you. Another GREAT option is the in-game MUTE button!

As a final thought before we begin, understand that I am not a pro by any means. This project is a love letter to a game I've thoroughly enjoyed, and have gathered as much information as I could from various sources and my own experience. You will not agree with everything contained herein, and with the plethora of information gathered, there are likely to be mistakes (let me know if you catch any!). The following contains information gathered through time and experience, and I hope you get something of quality out of this guide. So let's start, shall we?

Roles are requested before queue (2 preferred roles per player). Roles are officially assigned by the system upon entering into the lobby. Roles are: ADC (Carry), Support, Jungle, Mid, Solo

Start at level 1 with 1,500 gold.

*NOTE* All minions, structures and the Titan deal physical damage.

Standard Buff camps (first spawn at 0:30 except Speed at 0:25, buffs last for 2 minutes, camps respawn in 2 minutes after ALL minions are killed):

Protection Reduction Buff: If an enemy is within 55 units, applies a 10 protection debuff. For each enemy god past the first within 55 units of you, all enemies within that area will lose additional protections. 2 protection per stack, stacks up to 4 times. Usually taken first by the Support but can be picked up by anyone.

Damage Buff: 10% damage + 10 mag power / 5 phys power. The bonus increases to 15% when hitting enemy gods. Usually taken by the Mid-Laner.

Speed Buff: 5% move speed. Applies additional stacks of 2% move speed on each jungle camp kill/assist. Stacks up to 3 times, stacks last 15 seconds. Usually taken by the Jungler.

Mana Buff: 3 mana/second regen + 10% CDR. Restores 2% of your missing mana upon damaging a god with an ability. Usually taken by the Solo-Laner.

Totem of Ku (behind the Fire Giant next to the Solo lane): for the first 15 minutes of the match, a totem will appear near the Solo lane. Players can attack this Totem, and after enough damage is dealt the totem will favor a team. Towers for that team will provide 25 gold to each team member, as well as an empowering aura in all allied tower areas that boost movement speed (5%) and mana regeneration (+25 MP5) for 1 minute.

Game Phases:

A Conquest match consists of 3 conceptual phases: Early, Mid, and Late-Game. These are loosely defined by a combination of the following: match time, build and level progress, objective/structure status.

Early Game: AKA the "Laning Phase." Beginning at the start of the match, through the timepoint is roughly around 10-15 minutes. Player levels reach around 10, and builds consist of up to around 2 full items. The majority of roles (ADC (Carry) / Mid / Solo) stay in their lanes to farm for XP / gold. The Support will often begin to rotate through the jungle before the laning phase ends, and the Jungler will roam throughout. The Gold Fury and OracleHarpies may be targeted at any time, especially if one team gains a temporary advantage (early kills).

Mid-Game: From the transition through the early game to around 20-25 minutes. Player levels are approaching 20, and builds are nearing completion (4-5 completed items). Players will rotate between lanes much more to support teammates either push or defend objectives. All mid-map objectives have increased importance. The Pyromancer and Fire Giant spawn at 10 minutes and should be watched closely.

Late-Game: From the transition through the mid-game to the end of the match. Players reach level 20, and builds are completed. Players will often roam in groups to destroy and defend objectives. Many fights are in groups, and if a team gains a huge advantage of numbers through successful teamfighting, the Titan is targeted to end the game.

Lane Minions & General Lane Strategies

Spawn every 30 seconds in each lane starting at time 0, consisting of 3 ranged-attack Archers (in the back) and a total of 3 of Swordsmen / Brutes (in the front).

Penetration stats have no effect.

The lane minions are the main source of gold and XP for the ADC, Mid, and Solo-Laners. They provide +50% gold on last-hit, but still provide gold on assist / proximity.

Since archers deal higher damage from distance, and have lower health, they should be the priority targets if you can't hit the entire wave.

Minions generally attack the closest target to them. However, they will switch targets to the enemy god if that god does damage to an allied god within their vicinity.

Although minions do not have protections, per se, they take reduced damage
as follows: 10% + 1% per minute since the start of the match.

Flaming Minions: a special form of minion that spawn while an enemy phoenix is down in the opposite lane. These minions deal twice as much damage and have 200 more health than their non-flaming counterparts. Their damage reduction remains the same.

If your tower hits the minion at least once, you still get XP but receive ONLY 25% GOLD. It's this aspect of gameplay that shapes strategies for winning your lane against your lane enemy. Let's go over some of the strategies that can help you win your lane (or allow you to stop the bleeding, re: Playing From Behind):

Hard Pushing

The standard push, the basic strategy here is to clear the minion wave before your enemy. When you no longer have to worry about getting targeted by the minions, your enemy now has to worry about both you AND your minions.

If they've done all they could to damage the minions and their abilities are on cooldown, they can 1) stay, taking steady damage to try to kill you first, 2) stay, taking steady damage to try to finish the wave, or 3) retreat.

If you can damage them enough, you might be able to force them to back, giving you a major advantage in both farming and objective pushing. If they try to stay to prevent their tower from being pushed, though, you can still deny them resources by getting your minions into tower range so they take hits.

Lane Freezing & Bullying

If one god has a major damage potential advantage over the enemy, one strategy that can be attempted is freezing the lane.

The main idea here is that you have to be such a large threat that they won't even chance getting too close to you, for fear of dying. This allows you to continue gathering resources while they get nothing. In other words, you're being a bully.

Here are the key points:

Attacking The Minions: In order to prevent the minions from getting close to the enemy tower, allowing them a chance to clear more safely, you want to force the minions to a stalemate by not attacking, or perhaps only last-hitting so that you push as slowly as possible.

Location: You're going to want to be between the minion waves and the enemy god. The further away you can keep them from the wave (and close to their tower), the less likely they'll be able to get any resources.

Attacking The Enemy God: If you're pushing the enemy far enough away, you can chance doing poke damage and not becoming a target of the minions. Just remember that if YOU get too far away, you don't get any resources either.

Watch Your Back: If you're giving your enemy laner a tough time, remember they may call in reinforcements. Since your general location is going to be aggressive (and closer to their tower than yours), make sure you've got an escape plan if the enemy attempts a gank. Wards are extremely helpful in these cases.

Proxy-Farming

Whether you've been hard-pushing or bullying, if you can get the enemy laner to back, it gives you the opportunity to Proxy-farm.

Proxy-farming is pushing your lane, allowing your minions to take tower damage, while you go behind the tower to clear the next incoming wave much earlier than normal. This automatically gives you at least an extra 30 seconds where you don't have to worry about maintaining your lane, buying you time to rotate to other lanes to help other lanes, attempting ganks, clearing enemy jungle camps, etc.

If you are going to attempt this, remember that you're deep in enemy territory, and enemies have likely spotted you on the minimap. Make sure that you've got a teammate that's close and knows what you're doing so they can back you up, or that you have ample wards up to warn you of impending danger.

Playing From Behind

This is a concept that can be fairly difficult for players. When you start losing your lane, most people's instinct is to try what they were doing even harder to make up for lost ground. But that gameplay style in the first place is usually what put them behind.

The key concepts to having eventual success when you DO get behind are:

First priority is defend lanes (and thus your towers/phoenixes)

Farm safely

Watch/defend key objectives

Be patient

Don't give up (there's almost always a chance you can come back)

I'd like to discuss the topic in more specific detail and provide examples where appropriate.

Recognize When You're Behind

This seems like a relatively simple notion...but if you're caught up in the match, you may or may not mentally recognize and note the need to adjust how you're playing. Here are some things you can quickly look at to confirm that you're truly behind, mostly by pulling up the in-game stat screen:

Player levels: As you increase in level, you unlock more skills, level the skills to higher levels, gain increased inherent protections (at least physical), and gain more base health and mana. Late game, being level 17 when the enemy is level 19 isn't a huge deal, but early in the game, being 1-2 levels behind can be dangerous for you. If you're level 4, but the enemy is level 5, they've got access to their ult (while you don't), which can be a huge determinant in a fight. Also, at low levels, not all abilities are necessarily unlocked, and a single level in a damaging ability can make a significant difference.

(For you numbers people, also see the base numerical difference in the levels themselves from my examples above...level 5 vs 4 = 25% difference. 19 vs 17 = 12% difference. Thus, the longer you can keep things close (without increasing their lead), the less of an effect the lead will have.)

Gold and Items: These typically go hand-in-hand. More gold buys more items. More items = greater effectiveness. In this case, just take a look on that same stat screen...with a quick glance, look at the team gold total. If they're more than a couple thousand above you, it's pretty apparent they're ahead (from better farming, more kills, objective takedown, etc.).

Towers (specific game modes): This one doesn't even need the stat screen. Do you have more towers down? If so, this should change where you set your safe boundaries. More on that in a bit.

You Don't Need To Play More Aggressively
To Catch Up

Brief mention on this...when you realize you're behind, natural instinct is to be MORE aggressive, take MORE chances, in an attempt to narrow the enemy's lead. You need to FIGHT this feeling. When they're ahead, they've got an advantage (per above, base health, higher level skills, more items), which means overextending yourself is likely to result in your death and further increasing their lead. Continue reading for ways in which you can strategically and intelligently work on closing the gap.

Redefine Your Boundaries

At the start of a match, everyone's basically even (obviously, some comps might be stronger in the early game). Before towers are taken down, you've got a very obvious boundary of "your side" vs. "their side."

If you're playing it safer and sticking closer to your towers, defensive wards are just fine.

Once your towers start to go down, you need to recognize that the boundaries have changed. You can't just go back to the middle of the map without teammate support, or push your lane like you might have attempted in the earlier parts of a game. With towers down, your "safe" zone is pushed back, and this means that you need to adjust.

Boundary Shift When Behind

If their towers are up and yours are down, your safe zone is significantly pushed back, and you should adjust ward locations based on this. If you're playing it REALLY safe, warding fairly close to your safe zones will give you less warning but cover more paths (the map narrows at T2 tower locations).

Extended wards (those slightly pushed out) will give you more warning about incoming enemies, but you'll need more to cover the wider area.

Warding the Fire Giant is probably the key objective location. Gold Fury is also good to ward unless it's late game. Keep in mind, if you're behind, challenging the enemy's attempt at the Fire Giant might result in a teamfight that you'll lose. If you've got eyes on (via Wards) and a god that can steal with a timely ult (e.g. Ra's Searing Light has long range and can go through walls!), that's probably the safest way to challenge, unless the enemy team is at least partially lower health and their attention is fully on the FG...at which point going in with your full team might give you the advantage.

Minions act as mobile wards, and will spot enemies pushing the respective lanes. Keep an eye on the mini-map, as they won't provide an audible *PING* like wards do.

IF you need to prioritize warding locations (you're the only one doing so, despite your constant begging to teammates), then, other than an objective like the Fire Giant, would be nearer any objectives still standing. If we use the example above, the only T2 tower still standing is the Duo-Lane. Ward nearer there for possible advance notice of an enemy push to try to protect it.

Playing It Safe & Being Patient

Ever played Assault? Do you get itchy when enemies are just camping their tower? Well, this is what you should be doing if you're behind. SAFE FARM is concentrating on clearing minion waves (and nearby jungle camps only) from the relative safety of nearby towers/phoenixes, unless you know where all of the enemies are. Remember, if you can prevent the enemy from increasing their lead, their overall advantage will narrow as the game progresses.

In addition, playing defensively will often give the enemy a case of irritability and restlessness. This can lead to making them take more chances (the thing I mentioned you usually SHOULDN'T do!). Taking more chances by diving the tower brings the high damage of the tower into play, and you should take all the help you can get. If you can force them into making errors, it can turn the tide of a battle...taking at least 1 or 2 enemies down (or hurting them all so you force them to back) will give you a temporary advantage on the map, giving you freer reign to push lanes, take buffs/objectives, etc., which are strong steps in working to catch up to the enemy team.

Fights, Teamfights, and Split-Pushing

General fighting: in a 1 v 1 situation, unless you KNOW you've got an advantage against the enemy, it's probably best that you do no more than poke damage from safe distance. Recognize if your relics are up, if they've got an initiating ability, if you LACK an escape ability, etc., as what feels like a safe distance might not be.

Team-Fighting: always remember that if your team is significantly behind, your chance of winning an even-numbered teamfight is probably low. Couple of general rules...

Know where enemies are (of course)

Spot if you've got a numerical advantage (e.g. 3 v 2)

Check teammate/enemy health & mana (if you're full health and enemy team is partially hurt, that's an advantage...if enemy mana is very low, that's another advantage)

Split-Pushing: If you can force the enemy to concentrate on a specific area (or with wards know that they're far away), a god that can split push well (such as Apollo) can attempt to take down objectives quickly. Extending that far away can be very risky, so it's suggested NOT to send more than 1 or (at most) 2 people to attempt it. If you can go solo and take down a tower, it can be worth a death...again, as long as it's not more than 1 player...you'll need the rest of your team to concentrate on tower/phoenix protection while the dead god revives.

Camps, Objectives & Structures

Camp, Objective, and Structure Details

*NOTE* All minions, structures and the Titan deal physical damage.

Structures (Towers & Phoenixes)

Includes towers and phoenixes. They are immune to most abilities and debuffs, and can only be damaged with basic attacks. Each objective is invulnerable until the structure preceding it is destroyed. They initiate attacks on the first enemy to enter their designated range and will normally proceed to attack with escalating damage until that enemy is either destroyed or out of range. Minions are generally targeted before enemy gods. They will only immediately change target to an enemy god in range if that enemy harms a friendly god. Once an enemy god is targeted, they will continue to be targeted regardless of other gods' actions until they are dead or out of range. See HERE for further details.

Towers: Each lane contains 2 towers on each side. The Tier 1 towers (closest to the enemy) have 2,000 health, 215 power and 125 protections, while the Tier 2 towers have 2,500 health, 230 power and 125 protections. First tower in the lane rewards 100 gold and 100 XP upon destruction; second tower rewards 300 gold and 200 XP upon destruction. Once they are destroyed, they are destroyed forever.

Phoenixes: Each lane contains 1 phoenix on each side, with 3,000 health and 150 protections. Rewards 150 gold upon destruction. They cannot be destroyed until both towers in their lane have been destroyed. Will respawn after 4 minutes with 25% health, and regains health (up to 70%) over time.

*TECHNICAL NOTES*

Towers and Phoenixes deal an additional 15% damage to minions.

Structures take 50% less damage if no opposing minions are near, to prevent tower diving.

After the first spawn, each subsequent spawn will be randomly chosen from the other 2 furies, avoiding repeats.

Oni Gold Fury: on the next round of minions spawned, all minions in all 3 lanes will gain 75% bonus damage, 30% bonus health, 50 physical protection, and 60 magical protection. This is helpful for pushing lanes.

Primal Gold Fury: all gods on the killing team permanently gain 5% increased damage to jungle camps and bosses, stacking up to 3 times. This is helpful for quicker jungle clear and securing jungle objectives.

The Oracle Furies camp across from the Gold Fury adds further strategy, and both minions should be secured when possible, to give free vision of the location for 90 seconds.

Since it has such high health, it takes a group effort to defeat it. The Fire Giant's Might Buff provides a huge advantage to the entire team, so it's important to give yourself the best chance at securing the kill. Usually targeted after a teamfight results in at least 3+ kills on one side. Often warded with a Sentry Ward to ensure the enemy doesn't try a stealthy kill.

*TECHNICAL NOTE*Fire Giant is affected by auras and debuffs.

Titan

The final objective. Whichever team manages to defeat the enemy Titan first wins the match. Has 15,500 health. Invulnerable as long as ALL phoenixes are alive, but becomes weaker (less health and other buffs) the more phoenixes are defeated. Can move freely from their resting spot and will chase enemies until they leave the Titan's range or die. Regains health over time when disengaged from combat, which makes it important to attack the Titan only when you can fully commit with teammates/minions.

Roles: Duo Lane ADC (Carry)

- Squishy-CC abilities may be limited- Reliant on Support early for protection/initiation

ADC (Carry) 101

Who: Hunters are the common choice for the ADC role, though there are some mages whose ranged basic attacks are strengthened within their kits, giving them some potential as well. Some assassins may also do well in this role, such as Kali, but they are not considered "common" picks.

What: The ADC (Attack Damage Carry) is aptly named. Due to their extremely high late-game damage via their basic attacks, it is possible for them to blow through enemies and "carry" their team to victory.

When: Many ADCs start out a bit weak. Almost all are powerhouses in the late game, with full physical builds based around stats such as attack speed, penetration, crit items and/or Qin's Sais.

Where: The ADC will usually stay in the Duo Lane for the first few minutes. The Support will likely be in the area, drawing sometimes from the waves, but often rotating through the jungle. As such, the ADC may find themselves mostly trying to get the upper hand on the opposing ADC in 1 v 1 situations. In the later stages of a match, they can bring their high damage to a teamfight, and are great at taking out objectives.

Why: If you have the patience to wait for the late game, and like the opportunity to absolutely blast enemies down, this role is for you.

How:ADCs generally want to build a bit of sustain (e.g. lifesteal) to help them with laning and 1 v 1 boxing, but focus mainly on building up attack speed, penetration, and enhanced damage.

*NOTE ON PROVIDED BUILDS* The ADC (Carry) will be the only group in this guide with full build discussion. Only Hunters are covered, as Mages can be built in a few ways with good but different effect.

The first 3 are standard cookie-cutter builds that should work well in most situations, depending on god. In addition, I've included an ability-focused build, and a build utilizing Runeforged Hammer.

+ Situationals

Traditional Devourers / Qins Basic Attack Build

This build doesn't rely on RNG, instead opting for reliable DPS via Qin's Sais. It works well for most Hunters that rely mainly on basic attacks, and is a solid build to counter enemy basic attackers and tanks in particular.

*BUILD NOTES*

Starter Items: Hunter's Blessing is the clear starter choice for most hunters. The extra damage on each basic attack is helpful for wave clear, while the attack speed once evolved is appreciated.

This build is probably better for gods that do not have AS steroids. There is a strong focus on attack speed here to take advantage of Qin's passive. Being able to build it up without having to worry about loss of efficiency by overcapping AS is helpful. If you do end up overcapping late-game, itemizing into Silverbranch Bow can be considered to take advantage of some of that inefficiency.

Lifesteal: Devourer's Gauntlet carries a low price for the end power and lifesteal once fully stacked. If you're concerned about getting ganked, have low mobility, or just prefer the early movespeed, you can get your choice of Tabi first.

Movement: You can consider both Warrior Tabi and Ninja Tabi, as both are functional. If your hunter relies heavily on abilities for wave clear and has good scaling, Warrior Tabi's higher power is good since Hunter's Blessing will provide some of the missing attack speed, and may be the preferred choice if the hunter has an AS steroid. Ninja Tabi is great for DPS overall, and will provide a smooth transition once main damage items come online.

*NOTE* Late-game with a full build, your boots should be sold. You'll "replace" it with Elixir of Speed, which grants a permanent 18% MS, but does not stack with MS from boots. Instead, it frees up an item slot so you can pick up an additional item as preferred.

Early Boxing (optional): Ichaival has been reworked as of Patch 6.4 "Darkness Falls," providing high power and attack speed, and then cost-nerfed in Patch 6.5. The passive gives you an advantage when boxing, by taking attack speed away from your target to give you an advantage. You can choose to delay this item until later due to cost, or skip this item altogether, but it remains a very strong item, especially against other basic attackers.

Protection Reduction: The Executioner is the premier protection reduction item for basic attackers, increasing your damage output against both squishy and tanky gods. It's a great setup item for the Qin's.

Main DPS: As a single standalone item, Qin's Sais provides the highest DPS increase compared to any other item. The passive adds damage to each attack that connects, and has increasing effectiveness against high-health targets. It requires high attack speed to get the most out of it; luckily, most of the earlier items in this build have provided you with a solid base of AS to do just that.

Blessing and Tabi Replacement Item Options:

Late-game, you'll sell/replace your blessing and Tabi.

Elixir of Speed (Tabi replacement): Provides 18% MS, while freeing up an item space when you sell Tabi so you can purchase another item.

Silverbranch Bow (AS Overcap Bonus): If you build high base AS to maximize Qin's, but also have a steroid that puts your AS over the 2.5 cap, Silverbranch allows you to get some benefit from the overcap by increasing power by a certain portion of the overcap value.

Odysseus' Bow (Teamfight Poke): If you're not overcapping AS, "O-Bow" is a good pickup to highly boost attack speed, while providing a passive chain lightning that can poke for extra damage against distant enemies or hit multiple targets in a teamfight.

Titan's Bane (Anti-Tank): If facing a particularly tanky team, this item can cut deeply into their protections. Has some inefficiency when combined with The Executioner, but is still very effective at what it does.

Brawler's Beat Stick(Anti-Heal Option #1): a good option if you want some anti-heal. The power and flat pen are also great for general damage output. Don't forget that the anti-heal applies only from abilities.

Toxic Blade(Anti-Heal Option #2): another anti-heal option that applies on basic attacks. It unfortunately doesn't have any power, but the AS and flat pen are helpful for Qin's builds.

Asi (Lifesteal Boost): provides a boost to your current lifesteal, helping you more easily sustain in a fight, while also giving you some flat pen and attack speed, which are always useful. Double-lifesteal isn't that common, but the high sustain can help counter anti-heal and damage reflection effects.

Bloodforge (Power, Lifesteal, and Survival): another lifesteal option, but with high power as well. This one will give you a small shield and move speed boost when you secure a kill.

Runeforged Hammer (CC DPS Boost): The passive provides a general boost to damage % when the enemy is affected by CC. If your team - or your hunter - has a lot of CC in their kit, this can provide an effective DPS boost while also giving you a bit of survivability from the health.

Void Shield (Defensive Option #1: Anti-Physical): Void has some offensive upside, as it provides some power and protection reduction to go along with the physical protection. If your main threats are physical, this can be a consideration for the late-game.

Magi's Cloak (Defensive Option #2: Anti-CC): In dire situations, the health and CC protection can be a lifesaver. However, with no offensive stats, this is best considered only late-game if you're constantly on the defensive.

Mantle of Discord (Defensive Option #3: Protections): High balanced protections can mitigate a lot of the incoming damage you'll see. If you're constantly on the defensive, this could be a lifesaver, though like Magi's, having no offensive stats really hurts your damage potential. The passive can help against a diving Jungler.

Other situational/counter items can be considered as needed.

+ Situational

Traditional Basic Attack Crit Build

This cookie-cutter build works well for most basic attack-focused Hunters. Crits want high power, as the crit bonus damage scales from base damage. Gods with AS steroids can allow you to itemize more strongly into power over AS, if preferred.

Provides great late-game basic attack DPS, and will chew through squishy enemies, though you need to watch out for enemies counter-building via items such as Hide of the Nemean Lion, Shield of Thorns, etc.

*BUILD NOTES*

Starter Items: Hunter's Blessing is a clear starter choice for most hunters. The extra damage on each basic attack is helpful for wave clear, while the attack speed once evolved is appreciated.

Lifesteal: Devourer's Gauntlet carries a low price for the end power and lifesteal once fully stacked. If you're concerned about getting ganked, have low mobility, or just prefer the early movespeed, you can get your choice of Tabi first.

Movement: You can consider both Warrior Tabi and Ninja Tabi, as both are functional. If your hunter relies heavily on abilities for wave clear and has good scaling, Warrior Tabi's higher power is good since Hunter's Blessing will provide some of the missing attack speed, and may be the preferred choice if the hunter has an AS steroid. Ninja Tabi is great for DPS overall, and will provide a smooth transition once main damage items come online.

*NOTE* Late-game with a full build, your boots should be sold. You'll "replace" it with Elixir of Speed, which grants a permanent 18% MS, but does not stack with MS from boots. Instead, it frees up an item slot so you can pick up an additional item as preferred.

Protection Reduction: The Executioner is the premier protection reduction item for basic attackers, increasing your damage output against both squishy and tanky gods. If preferred, you can get your first crit item before this.

Crit Chance Paths:

Rage / High Crit Chance: Rage provides high crit chance, especially at full stacks. It's great for gods that have high AS steroids. If you choose this route, consider getting this before The Executioner to start building stacks, and after Exe, pick up Deathbringer for your huge DPS boost.

Boxing: Poisoned Star has been nerfed and is not my preferred early build path. However, when the passive activates, it provides control via an MS slow, along with damage reduction. Pick it up before or after The Executioner, followed by Deathbringer, then typically Wind Demon.

Elixir of Speed (Tabi replacement): Provides 18% MS, while freeing up an item space when you sell Tabi so you can purchase another item.

Brawler's Beat Stick(Anti-Heal): is a good option if you want some anti-heal. The power and flat pen are also great for general damage output. Don't forget that the anti-heal applies only from abilities.

Qin's Sais (Anti-Tank): can be considered against high-health enemies. Isn't synergistic with crit items, but can still be great for DPS.

Asi (Lifesteal Boost): provides a boost to your current lifesteal, helping you more easily sustain in a fight, while also giving you some flat pen and attack speed, which are always useful. Double-lifesteal isn't that common, but the high sustain can help counter anti-heal and damage reflection effects.

Bloodforge (Power, Lifesteal, and Survival): another lifesteal option, but with high power as well. This one will give you a small shield and move speed boost when you secure a kill.

Ichaival (Anti Basic-Attack Boxing): High power and attack speed combine with an enemy attack speed debuff that can help you get the upper hand against other basic attackers.

Runeforged Hammer (CC DPS Boost): The passive provides a general boost to damage % when the enemy is affected by CC. Especially when you've built Poisoned Star, this can provide a good general boost to your DPS.

Other situational/counter items can be considered as needed.

[/indent]

+ Situationals

Transcendence / Basic-Attack Builds

+OR+

With the Patch 6.4 buff to Asi, Trans builds are back in action for many hunters, especially those that scale well and rely a reasonable amount on ability use. Some CDR and a huge mana pool allow you to repeatedly use abilities to pressure enemies.

This build path pairs with later emphasis on basic attack function to provide a build that is great against objectives due to high power, while adding higher ability use and strong basic attacks for a very well-rounded build.

*BUILD NOTES*

Starter Items: Hunter's Blessing is a clear starter choice for most hunters. The extra damage on each basic attack is helpful for wave clear, while the attack speed once evolved is appreciated.

In this case, Mage's Blessing can also be considered, as in combination with Transcendence, will provide you with 20% CDR through the majority of the match. This is popular especially for Ullr.

Power / Mana / CDR: Transcendence provides extremely high power at full stacks, and what feels almost like unlimited mana.

Movement: You can consider both Warrior Tabi and Ninja Tabi, as both are functional. If your hunter relies heavily on abilities for wave clear and has good scaling, Warrior Tabi's higher power is good since Hunter's Blessing will provide some of the missing attack speed, and may be the preferred choice if the hunter has an AS steroid. Ninja Tabi is great for DPS overall, and will provide a smooth transition once main basic attack damage items come online.

*NOTE* Late-game with a full build, your boots should be sold. You'll "replace" it with Elixir of Speed, which grants a permanent 18% MS, but does not stack with MS from boots. Instead, it frees up an item slot so you can pick up an additional item as preferred.

Lifesteal: Asi has been reworked as of Patch 6.4, providing some power, along with high lifesteal, flat pen, and attack speed. It can be delayed if preferred.

Blessing and Tabi Replacement Item Options: Late-game, you'll sell/replace your blessing and Tabi. Finish your build with these item considerations if you have the space:

Elixir of Speed (Tabi replacement): Provides 18% MS, while freeing up an item space when you sell Tabi so you can purchase another item.

Ichaival (Boxing): reworked as of Patch 6.3, provides high power and attack speed. The passive gives you an advantage when boxing, by taking attack speed away from your target to give you an advantage. The stats are too enticing to pass up.

Bloodforge (Power, Lifesteal, and Survival): additional lifesteal with high power. This one will give you a small shield and move speed boost when you secure a kill.

Runeforged Hammer (CC DPS Boost): The passive provides a general boost to damage % when the enemy is affected by CC. If your team - or your hunter - has a lot of CC in their kit, this can provide an effective DPS boost while also giving you a bit of survivability from the health.

Titan's Bane (Anti-Tank): If facing a particularly tanky team, this item can cut deeply into their protections, and strengthens ability damage as well. Has some inefficiency when combined with The Executioner, but is still very effective at what it does.

Other situational/counter items can be considered as needed.

Transcendence / Ability Builds

These builds focus strongly on ability damage through items that provide stats such as CDR, power and penetration rather than attack speed. The build above is generic, and can be altered to suit individual preferences. Ullr is a perfect example of a god that can utilize this type of build, as he can basic-attack cancel and stance switch. Chiron and Neith would be other considerations.

Movement: You can consider both Warrior Tabi and Ninja Tabi, as both are functional. Warrior is a clear choice for full ability focus, while Ninja provides a bit of hybrid function, and is my preference since the rest of the build has plenty of power.

*NOTE* Late-game with a full build, your boots should be sold. You'll "replace" it with Elixir of Speed, which grants a permanent 18% MS, but does not stack with MS from boots. Instead, it frees up an item slot so you can pick up an additional item as preferred.

Lifesteal: Soul Eater is shown here as it provides a measure of health sustain, while also strongly supporting ability use with some CDR and high power. For more of a hybrid function, Asi can also work.

CDR: Jotunn's Wrath is the quintessential ability item, with high CDR, some flat pen, and good power. This maxes your CDR at the 40% cap.

Hybrid Damage: The Crusher provides extra damage on ability hits, along with more flat pen and power. The added attack speed supports some basic attack use.

Final Item Options (replace Blessing, Tabi): Late game replacement suggestions include the following, depending on what you purchased previously:

Elixir of Speed (Tabi replacement): Provides 18% MS, while freeing up an item space when you sell Tabi so you can purchase another item.

Titan's Bane (High Penetration): to topping on the ability-user's build is the high % penetration from Titan's Bane, which makes abilities hit very hard, especially on tankier enemies.

Brawler's Beat Stick (Anti-Heal): is another good option if you want some anti-heal. The power and flat pen are also great for general damage output.

Shifter's Shield (Power and Protections): Provides a good deal of survivability due to the added protections. While healthy, adds the highest power increase outside of Transcendence.

Other situational/counter items can be considered as needed.

+ Situationals

Runeforged Hammer Build

This build has become popular since the buff to Runeforged Hammer at the start of Season 6. Runeforged provides a measure of survivability due to the health, but is primarily used with gods that have easily-applied CC to get consistent effect from its passive bonus damage.

Runeforged does NOT have to be built as the 3rd main item. It can be delayed to a later position if preferred.

*BUILD NOTES*

Starter Items: Hunter's Blessing is a clear starter choice for most hunters. The extra damage on each basic attack is helpful for wave clear, while the attack speed once evolved is appreciated.

Lifesteal: Devourer's Gauntlet carries a reasonable price for the end power and lifesteal once fully stacked. If you're concerned about getting ganked, have low mobility, or just prefer the early movespeed, you can get your choice of Tabi first.

Movement: You can consider both Warrior Tabi and Ninja Tabi, as both are functional. If your hunter relies heavily on abilities for wave clear and has good scaling, Warrior Tabi's higher power is good since Hunter's Blessing will provide some of the missing attack speed, and may be the preferred choice if the hunter has an AS steroid. Ninja Tabi is great for DPS overall, and will provide a smooth transition once main damage items come online.

*NOTE* Late-game with a full build, your boots should be sold. You'll "replace" it with Elixir of Speed, which grants a permanent 18% MS, but does not stack with MS from boots. Instead, it frees up an item slot so you can pick up an additional item as preferred.

CC DPS Boost: Runeforged Hammer's passive provides a general boost to damage % when the enemy is affected by CC. This item can be delayed until later in the build if preferred.

Protection Reduction: The Executioner is the premier protection reduction item for basic attackers, increasing your damage output against both squishy and tanky gods. If preferred, you can get your first crit item before this.

Main DPS: As a single standalone item, Qin's Sais provides the highest DPS increase compared to any other item. The passive adds damage to each attack that connects, and has increasing effectiveness against high-health targets. It requires high attack speed to get the most out of it; luckily, most of the earlier items in this build have provided you with a solid base of AS to do just that.

Blessing and Tabi Replacement Item Options:

Late-game, you'll sell/replace your blessing and Tabi.

Elixir of Speed (Tabi replacement): Provides 18% MS, while freeing up an item space when you sell Tabi so you can purchase another item.

Odysseus' Bow (Teamfight Poke): If you're not overcapping AS, "O-Bow" is a good pickup to highly boost attack speed, while providing a passive chain lightning that can poke for extra damage against distant enemies or hit multiple targets in a teamfight.

Titan's Bane (Anti-Tank): If facing a particularly tanky team, this item can cut deeply into their protections. Has some inefficiency when combined with The Executioner, but is still very effective at what it does.

Brawler's Beat Stick(Anti-Heal): a good option if you want some anti-heal. The power and flat pen are also great for general damage output. Don't forget that the anti-heal applies only from abilities.

The Crusher(Hybrid Damage): solid DPS from flat pen, power, and AS, while also dealing bonus damage on abilities.

Asi (Lifesteal Boost): provides a boost to your current lifesteal, helping you more easily sustain in a fight, while also giving you some flat pen and attack speed, which are always useful. Double-lifesteal isn't that common, but the high sustain can help counter anti-heal and damage reflection effects.

Bloodforge (Power, Lifesteal, and Survival): another lifesteal option, but with high power as well. This one will give you a small shield and move speed boost when you secure a kill.

Chronos / Sol Start: This is a start for Chronos and Sol, if they want to rely heavily on their basic attacks throughout the match. Tiny Trinket will turn into Bancroft's Talon, allowing for early sustain and pressure.

Freya Starts: Her basic attacks (fortified for range via Pulse) act like regular basic attacks, so Hunter's Blessing assists her early wave clear. An alternate option for her is to build Book of Thoth, in which case she will want to rush that by starting with Book of Souls. Finally, another option is to move early into Celestial Legion Helm, giving a good measure of physical protection to counter a physical ADC, while giving decent magical power.

Starting Process

Standard Start (w/Support): The most common start will see both the ADC and Support together in the Duo lane. In these scenarios, the object is to clear the wave as quickly as possible to gain an upper hand on the enemy, providing you with a variety of options. This will be covered immediately below.

Head to the Duo lane (1) to start with the minion wave. The enemy Duo is likely to do the same.

When in lane, if your wave clear is stronger than the enemy's, you can try to force them under their tower. Use that pressure to get a head start on clearing the next wave, or invade their jungle to steal their Protection Reduction Buff camp (3*). Otherwise, secure your own Protection Reduction Buff camp (3) with the Support.

If you're continually outclearing the enemy, you can play more aggressively and look to consistently steal enemy buffs (3* & 4) and the Oracle Harpy camp (5) in-between waves. Be aware in the reverse situation, as you may want to contest if the enemy is trying to steal (or stay clear if they've got a clear advantage in early game damage and levels). If your Mid-Laner isn't clearing their Damage Buff (2), you may want to do so for them.

From this point forward, you'll mostly stay in lane in the early game, looking to farm as much as possible.

Early Gameplay Elements

*NOTE* The Support is likely to tend toward staying in-lane for the first few minutes to farm with and protect the ADC. However, the Support may look to supplement their early farm and clear some jungle camps here and there, with a higher possibility of early roaming. You should always be aware, but be even more so when you're alone.

Farming & The Minion Waves: Main priority is clearing the minion wave. If you can out-clear the enemy, you can be more aggressive while they still have to worry about the wave.

Your Support (the player): If you find yourself with an unfamiliar Support player, you may not know how aggressive they play, or how well they'll cover you when you're being targeted. Just be mindful, as you may need to adjust your aggression level to match theirs.

Your Support (the god): Did they choose a safe pick (such as Khepri or Geb), or did they go for a more aggressive one? Safe picks are great to force a stalemate if necessary, while some of the risky choices may help secure an early kill or two.

The Enemy Support: Are they staying in-lane or are they mostly in the jungle? If you don't know where they are, be extremely careful pushing the lane. Wards can definitely help here.

The enemy Duo: If both Supports are sticking around, how do they match up against your Duo team? Do you have a great early game, while they are both relatively weak? Consider the matchups, which can help you determine how aggressive you can be.

Missing enemies & the Oracle Harpy camp: Just be aware anytime lane enemies aren't where you expect them to be. Warn teammates when enemies are missing, and consider checking on the Oracle Harpy camp from time to time just to make sure the camp isn't being taken.

Zoning out the enemy: Keeping up the pressure in your lane, and preventing the enemy from easily walking into the jungle will really help your teammates out. Forcing them to stay defensive means you'll be pushing your lane a bit, so you'll need to be careful if you do so, but with wards and good jungle presence from your teammates, you won't have to worry as much about being ganked.

Warding: It is EVERYONE'S responsibility to Ward. Unless you're steamrolling the enemy and they're completely on their heels, it's a good idea to pick some up ASAP and keep wards on the near jungle / close objectives at all times, for your own safety. Consider picking up Chalice of the Oracle (costs the equivalent of 8 wards), consider picking it up for convenient and free refills every time you back. (More in the Warding section)

Backing: Generally, you'll back after clearing a wave when you have enough gold to buy a full item. Lifesteal items like Devourer's Gauntlet can help you stay out for longer periods, but you may also need to consider a couple of Mana Potions to fortify ability use. Don't get too injured, or you might have to back early (or risk dying, which is a no-no).

Mid to Late Game Considerations & Strategies

Mid-Game Power Spike

As the game transitions to the mid-game, ADCs often see a power spike. This is due to:

Items

Early-game ability-reliant hunters (e.g. Medusa and Neith) who have high base damage with lower damage scaling) transitioning into a more standard basic attacking ADC but with continued ability support

Leveling non-wave clear abilities

In this last case, let's consider the following example. In the early game, Skadi needs to focus on leveling Piercing Cold to help her wave clear. She doesn't get a chance to use Kaldr, The Winter Wolf to good effect until she can start leveling Rune Of The Hunt, which she can do once her wave-clear is solid. Using Kaldr is critical to her damage output, so in her case, her power spike is closely related to ability-leveling.

As such, it's important to try to take advantage when possible while some hunters have a slight edge over other roles, which may rely heavily on items/full builds to help them deal with an ADC's damage output.

Gameplay Elements

Keep the resources coming: you always want to keep gaining XP and gold to out-farm the enemy ADC, no matter where you go. If you've gone into the jungle or changed lanes to possibly help in a teamfight, you should continue to clear waves / camps given the opportunity.

Stick together: there is power in numbers, so when possible, team up when facing enemies or attacking / defending objectives. It gives them at least a second target to distract them.

Warding: you'll be a prime target of the enemy, as they'll want to prevent you from getting fed and outleveling their team. If your teammates aren't warding, it won't hurt you to drop some in key locations, as it can warn you if the Jungler is stalking you.

Rotating: you'll probably want to start rotating from the Duo Lane at the first mid-game teamfight, as the ADC provides significant damage. At this point, you should be on the move constantly between lanes, but remember to try to stick with other teammates so you're not alone and an easy target.

Teamfighting: although a simple concept, it can be difficult to remember when you become a destructive force. With power comes...weakness. You're squishy. In a teamfighting situation, you should always be behind your front-line tanks. Let them protect you and set up kill opportunities with their CC abilities, at which point you can go in for the kill.

Objectives: this is the thing ADCs do best. Remember that downing objectives wins the game, and your sustained damage output is likely the highest on your team, so you should always be looking for opportunities to take down towers, phoenixes, etc. Also...if you've got good lifesteal, you may be able to easily solo the Gold Fury and Oracle Harpies.

Play to your strengths: although all ADCs can output great damage in the mid-to-late game, some gods have great teamfight potential with AOE and/or CC abilities (e.g. Neith, Medusa). Others have incredible objective and split-pushing potential (which will be discussed in the next section). Focus on what you're good at to help your team.

Key Gameplay Strategies (Objectives & Split-Pushing)

Top Split-Pushers

Split-pushing involves one or more players, separate from their main force, attacking lanes and objectives. Hopefully, the main force provides enough threat to keep the attention of the enemy team, allowing the pusher to sneak in and take down enemy objectives.

The strongest split-pushers are usually ADCs, though some Junglers can also do very well. The key is high power, good penetration, and a fast attack. Good mobility or escapes are also extremely helpful to get you to safety if the enemy converges.

There are three ways to split-push effectively.

Minions take the damage: this is the most common way. It requires you to push your lane by helping clear minions beforehand, and moving with your minions to attack the tower. Let them enter the tower's range first, at which point you can attack the tower without taking damage. If the enemy team isn't paying attention, you can finish the tower quickly, but because you'll probably have to help clear the minion wave beforehand, it can give the enemy advance warning of your location. Pretty much all ADCs should be able to do this relatively well.

Tank takes the damage: this one is risky, so requires good warding and distraction to limit your danger. If your team is ahead and attacking on multiple fronts, it may be enough to allow a tank with good physical protections to accompany you to take down an objective. You can bypass the minion waves if the tank takes the tower's focus while you attack, but since the tank is guaranteed to take some damage, be ready for the possibility they (and you!) may die from the tower or enemies before getting back to safety.

Kaldr: Skadi has a unique buddy ability that allows her to distract the tower and delay damage to herself. Right before entering tower range, send Kaldr in with Rune Of The Hunt. For a short time (4-5 seconds), it allows you to attack the tower without being focused.

Other Gods' Split-Push Strengths

Apollo is extremely effective, not because he can distract the objective (he can't), but because he can extract quickly with Across The Sky, either easily getting to safety, or better yet, dropping down into a teamfight almost immediately after destroying an objective. If he does need to tank a bit of tower damage, he can use Serenade, which at level 5 provides 50 protections.

Chronos has an amazing attack speed boost via Accelerate, which if triggered while Wheel of Time is in section IV, gives him a 35% magical power contribution to basic attacks. As a magical god, he does 120% of basic attack damage to objectives, so this is huge. His ult, Rewind, can save him from near-death and get him back in the fight with full strength.

Rama has an incredible attack speed steroid, and enough CC via cripples and slows to help create space between him and would-be killers.

Sol has great attack speed, and as a magical god, does 120% of basic attack damage to objectives. Her passive, Unstable Manifestation, gives her extra basic attack damage at full heat, and Disapparate can help her extract safely.

Ullr can get in quick with his move speed boost in melee stance, via Expose Weakness / Invigorate. When attacking the objective, he can boost his basic attack damage with Expose Weakness / Invigorate and has an inherent attack speed boost in his ranged stance. If an enemy threatens, he can stun, leap, and escape quickly with his move speed boost.

Misc. Info (Relics)

Relics

*NOTE* Relics can be upgraded at a price of 500 gold.

Here are suggested relics that should be of most use to the ADC.

Purification Beads

Using this removes CC effects and makes you immune to new ones for 2 seconds. 160 second CD. Upgrade decreases CD to 130 seconds.

Anti-CC. Often a first choice, this can help you escape from pulls and other potentially deadly CC. Practically a staple for a hunter.

Aegis Amulet

Using this makes you invulnerable to damage for 1.5 seconds, preventing you from taking action, but allowing you to move. 180 second CD. Upgrade decreases CD to 150 seconds.

Anti-Burst. This is a solid choice, often as the 2nd relic, when facing enemies (such as Neith, Thanatos, Scylla or Poseidon) with high burst potential that can be anticipated.

Heavenly Wings

Using this buffs the movement speed of allies within 55 units by 20% for 5 seconds and makes them immune to slows. 140 second CD. Upgrade provides immunity to basic attack slow penalty.

Chase / Escape. Another relic that is often chosen first. Can be used offensively to chase a retreating enemy and secure a kill, or as an escape to create distance between you and the enemy. The upgrade provides a Haste effect, which can be extremely helpful when boxing.

Phantom Veil

Using this allows you and teammates within 35 units to pass through players and player-made objects for 5 seconds. Upgrade increases duration to 10 seconds, and provides a 15% damage reduction buff for 5 seconds.

Escape from Barriers. This is a hard counter item to abilities like Odin's Ring of Spears and Ymir's Ice Wall. Extremely useful defensive relic that may be essential for any god without an escape ability (e.g. Artemis).

Sundering Spear

Using this fires a bolt that stops on the first god hit and deals 15% of the target's current health as true damage. CD 140 seconds. Upgrade increases damage taken by the target by 20% for 5 seconds.

Risky Tank Killer. You can use this situationally at the beginning of a fight to increase your damage output against a single target. Especially with the upgrade, the increased damage they take can allow you to take them down very quickly. Risky because this is a skill shot. Only consider if you're steamrolling the enemy team and don't need any of the other relics.

Belt of Frenzy

All allied gods in a 70 radius gain a 10% increased Damage dealt to all targets, including objectives, and 15% Attack Speed increase for 5 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade provides an additional +10 Penetration to all gods affected and increases the duration to 8 seconds.

Offensive Push. As a 2nd relic, the added damage this provides can help your team quickly defeat enemies or objectives.

Bracer of Undoing

Using this restores 40% health and mana lost within the last 5 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade subtracts 3 seconds from all abilities currently on CD.

Personal Survival. As a 2nd relic, the health restore can save your life from high burst.

Magic Shell

Using this applies a shield to the owner and allies within 35 units of 100 health + 12 per god level for 3 seconds. CD 150 seconds. Upgrade also provides 2 stacks of Block, absorbing the next 2 basic attacks).

Group Survival. As a 2nd relic, using this in a timely manner can save your bacon from a burst attack, and the upgraded Block can counter the enemy ADC.

Roles: Duo Lane Support

+ Usually high protections/health+Some have great healing/sustain+ Strong CC abilities+Great in teamfights

- Early game can be difficult-Struggle to makegold- Usually low damage-Underappreciated

Support 101

Who: The most common class used in the Support role is the Guardian, for their strong CC abilities and tankiness. However, there is more than one way to support. Some Warriors have great potential, and some mages (healing such as Hel, or control such as Nox) can work as an alternative Support type. In the current S5 meta, select Assassins are also seeing good efficacy in the role.

What: The tanky Support is an early companion to the ADC. Later, they are expected to use their CC to initiate and/or tank in teamfight situations, and protect the other, more squishy classes. Other Supports that are more offense-oriented will use aggressive early play to gain an early advantage.

When: The Support role can generally remain relevant even when under-leveled, due to the nature of their kits providing support function rather than needing to focus on damage. Guardian's Blessing can help gold income to help with their build progress.

Where: The Support may assist the ADC in the Duo Lane for some portions of the early game, while also rotating into the jungle to clear camps and provide opportunities for ganks. Later, they will be looked to for defense and protection of squishier teammates, and should always be in the middle of a teamfight.

Why: If you don't like being appreciated love being the backbone of your team, helping others to personal glory, this role was made for you.

How:Supports generally focus on building protections, so they can bear the brunt of the enemy's attack. CDR (so they can use their abilities more often) and extra mobility (so they can get to where they're needed more quickly) are also helpful. Late-game, counter-building is extremely important.

Responsibilities: Watch the Duo-side jungle, protect the ADC in the early game, initiate and/or secure kills with CC abilities, rotate between lanes to support teammates and be in the front-line for all teamfights.

Gameplay Stages

Starting Items

Starting Items

Here are suggested starting items depending on class, and how aggressive you want to be. Guardian's Blessing, which is the key starting item in almost any start, provides sustain, but more importantly, provides better gold return, as Supports are generally very reliant on items.

Standard Support Aggression Start: This start is good for any Support in general that is looking to be somewhat aggressive in the early game. Chalice of Healing + extra potions (usually Multi Potions) round out the starting items, providing you with plenty of early sustain.

Standard Support Mobility Start: This start is good for for better early mobility, with a focus on rushing T3 Shoes/Boots. No chalices mean less use when backing, but allow for more free spaces to pick up Wards.

Standard Support Vision Start: Usually best used by Guardians and Warriors looking to play a more passive early game. Guardian's Blessing provides sustain, but more importantly provides better gold return, as Supports are generally very reliant on items. Chalice of Healing + Chalice of the Oracle round out the starting items, providing you with early vision and good health sustain. To get the most out of your early vision, immediately buy and drop wards in key enemy locations (e.g. their damage buff), then go back to base to refill your wards.

Mage Support Start: For the occasional mage Support (such as Hel) that is looking for a different start, this one can provide you with strong aggression and wave clear potential, with the goal to out-push the enemy duo for early kills and/or more farm. The eventual CDR is also helpful for ability use.

Starting Process

Standard Start (w/ADC): The most common start will see both the ADC and Support start in the Duo lane. In these scenarios, the object is to clear the wave as quickly as possible to gain an upper hand on the enemy, providing you with a variety of options. This will be covered immediately below.

Head to the Duo lane (1) to start with the minion wave. The enemy Duo is likely to do the same.

When in lane, if your wave clear is stronger than the enemy's, you can try to force them under their tower. Use that pressure to get a head start on clearing the next wave, or invade their jungle to steal their Protection Reduction Buff camp (3*). Otherwise, secure your own Protection Reduction Buff camp (3) with the Support.

If you're continually outclearing the enemy, you can play more aggressively and look to consistently steal enemy buffs (3* & 4) and the Oracle Harpy camp (5) in-between waves. Be aware in the reverse situation, as you may want to contest if the enemy is trying to steal (or stay clear if they've got a clear advantage in early game damage and levels). If your Mid-Laner isn't clearing their Damage Buff (2), you may want to do so for them.

From this point forward, you'll mostly stay in lane with the ADC in the early game, but will need to choose a time to start rotating, where you will likely spend most of your time between the Duo and Mid-lanes.

Early Gameplay Elements

*NOTE* The Support is likely to tend toward staying in-lane for the first few minutes to farm with and protect the ADC. However, the Support may look to supplement their early farm by roaming to clear some jungle camps here and there, with a higher possibility of early rotation to the Mid-lane.

Farming & The Minion Waves: When in the Duo lane, you should help your ADC clear the minion wave as quickly as possible to gain an advantage over the enemy Duo. If you've picked up Guardian's Blessing, let your ADC have the last hit on minions, so they get full gold as well. Once cleared, look to pressure the enemies, force them back under their tower, or damage them enough to make them back early and lose out on farming. Remember that the longer you stay with the ADC, the more they lose out on XP, so try to rotate out whenever possible. Near jungle camps should be a priority as long as your ADC is safe and not outnumbered. Once they can hold their own and clear the wave, you should only come back to the lane periodically to farm the occasional wave if there is nothing else for you to do at the time.

Your ADC (the player): If you find yourself with an unfamiliar ADC player, you may not know if they're the type to just dive in and expect you to keep them alive, or if they actually understand the Support's job and play to your Duo's strengths. Just be mindful, as you may need to stay on your toes to get them out of trouble!

Your ADC (the god): Do they have strong wave clear, allowing you to be more aggressive and pressure the enemy Duo? Or do you both need to sit back, farm safely, and make sure you don't get pushed into the tower? Knowing your strengths, as well as your ADC's, can help get the most out of your teamwork.

Keep the ADC alive: In almost all cases, this is your priority, even over your own life. A key part of playing the Support is understanding the situation. If you can sacrifice yourself and your ADC is likely to escape, it's a good trade-off. If your ADC is likely to die no matter what you do, don't get yourself killed too.

The enemy Duo: How do they match up against your Duo team? Do you have great initiation and CC abilities while their ADC has no escape? Consider the matchups, which can help you determine how aggressive you can be.

The enemy Support: Specifically, where are they? If they're in the Duo lane, you're probably good staying there unless your ADC can already hold their own with the wave, allowing you to hit jungle camps, ward further out, and support the other lanes. However, if they leave the lane (and are obviously NOT backing), you should rotate as well, to make sure your teammates don't find themselves in out-numbered situations, and to allow your ADC to get the most out of farming their lane.

Missing enemies & the Oracle Harpy camp: Just be aware anytime lane enemies aren't where you expect them to be. Warn teammates when enemies are missing, and consider checking on the Oracle Harpy camp from time to time just to make sure the camp isn't being taken.

When to Rotate: With regard to the previous 2 points, you can start rotating whenever the right situation presents itself. Rotating away from the Duo lane serves 2 purposes: 1) if the ADC is strong enough to clear waves on their own, it helps max their farming, while 2) moving to support the general jungle allows the Support to continue gathering resources while also being a second roaming threat for ganks.

Where to Rotate: When you leave your ADC, your primary focus will shift to clearing jungle camps, protecting/controlling objectives, and attending other teammates to assist in protection, ganking, and pressuring lanes. You'll still need to be aware of your ADC's situation, so you'll usually stay somewhat close in case they need assistance. As such, unless there's a dire situation in your Solo lane that calls for your immediate assistance, you usually won't venture to the other side of the map. (One exception to this is Athena, who can ult at a moment's notice to support her ADC)

Warding: Usually as you start to roam, you'll want to pick up Chalice of the Oracle and start dropping wards like crazy. If the ADC can cover their area, it allows you to ward other areas, giving much greater vision to your entire team. Cover your ADC first if they're not warding, then expand from there. (More in the Warding section)

Backing: Back when you have enough gold to buy a full item and there are no jungle camps to clear. However, this comes secondary to your teammates' situations. For example, if your ADC is being pushed back or needs to back themselves, it may be best for you to stay and help clear an extra wave or two.

Mid to Late Game Considerations & Strategies

Rotations & Ganking

Rotations are a huge part of the Support's contribution to the team. By separating from your ADC as soon as you possibly can, you allow them to gain maximum resources from their lane, while offering your tanking, CC, or other supporting abilities to other lanes and the jungle. By roaming, you also make it harder for the enemy to keep track of you, forcing them to rely on proper placement of Wards if they want to avoid possible ganks.

Make sure you remain aware of your ADC's situation. If you see enemies possibly heading to their lane, warn them, and consider heading over yourself. Otherwise, take advantage of possible outnumbered situations in their absence.

*NOTE* The Mid-Game is a crucial time for the ADC to farm alone. If you do rotate back to the Duo lane to attempt a gank or secure a kill, make your stay short so you don't give a farming advantage to the enemy. An exception to this rule is if the enemy Support isn't rotating out, at which point, you may want to even things up by being present as well (or call for the Jungler or Mid-Laner to help gank!).

Another option to increase roaming capability is via items. Travelers Shoes (or the physical variant, Talaria Boots) offer an convenient way to get around quickly the entire match. Winged Blade and Relic Dagger are popular options, and Rod of Asclepius is a functional move speed item for a healer.

*NOTE* Don't forget to continue warding! Besides the Jungler, your constant roaming at this point gives you the easiest access to drop wards in key locations. When you back, always get a Sentry Ward to cover key objectives. You should have Chalice of the Oracle, so you can lay another ward down where needed, with a spare for backup in case one of your wards is taken down while you're still out in the field.

One final consideration...you will likely not be building for damage, so you should not engage in 1 v 1 fights, as you will lose. If you're roaming and you come across the enemy Jungler, ignore them and continue to where you were headed, or get to safety if they attack.

Teamfighting

In teamfight situations, you have two main tasks: protect your teammates through whatever means are available, and use your abilities to help set up kills for your higher-damage teammates. You may be the first god on your team to die in a teamfight, but if this helps your team secure kills or allows them to escape a dangerous situation, the tradeoff is generally considered to be worth it.

Each class has some general characteristics that will change your strategy in a teamfight:

Guardians:

You're one of the tankiest characters with regard to defense and health, so use this to your advantage! You should be in the front-line of every teamfight, drawing the enemies' attentions and taking incoming damage from abilities, especially ones that stop once they hit the first god. You should also be fronting basic attack damage in a boxing match, though don't be reckless and commit suicide if your teammate isn't using your tanking to their advantage.

Guardians generally have a lot of CC abilities, so if your teammates aren't being attacked, use them (especially on squishies) so your team gets a clear target to melt.

Warriors:

You're the second tankiest class in the game, but you'll want to use this cautiously. You may not be able to tank as much as a Guardian, and getting hit with an ultimate in the late-game could be your downfall!

Warriors, however, can often do more damage than Guardians, even with few damage items, so use this in your favor to peel/focus squishier targets for your team.

Mages:

You're likely going to be somewhat squishy, even when building some protection items. However, you can compensate for this with HEALING! Items like Lotus Crown and Rod of Asclepius are amazing for giving you and your team buffs and enhanced healing.

Most Support Mages have soft CC or very short hard CC, so you'll want to use these abilities at key times to make the most of them.

Being a mage, you have a better chance to win a 1 v 1, even when playing as a Support, but enemies like the ADC and Jungler are probably way out of your comfort zone, so be careful!

Misc. Info (Relics & Key Support Items)

Relics

*NOTE* Relics can be upgraded at a price of 500 gold.

Here are suggested relics that should be of most use to the Support.

Heavenly Wings

Using this buffs the movement speed of allies within 55 units by 20% for 5 seconds and makes them immune to slows. 140 second CD. Upgrade provides immunity to basic attack slow penalty.

Chase / Escape. A relic that is often chosen first. Rather than to protect you, it's often chosen to provide further support and safety to the ADC. Can be used offensively to chase a retreating enemy and secure a kill, or (more often) used as an escape to create distance between you and the enemy. The upgrade provides a Haste effect, which can be helpful when boxing.

Meditation Cloak

Using this restores to the owner and his teammates within 35 units 75 health + 12 per level, and 30% mana. 120 second CD. Upgrade provides all allies hit with 30% reduced mana cost and 1 second reduced CD.

Sustain. As a first relic option, this is often considered a crutch for people that find it difficult to manage mana well, but the small burst of health can also mean the difference between life and death.

Cursed Ankh

Using this reduces enemy healing by 50% for 10 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade increases enemy mana costs by 20% and their CDs by 2 seconds.

Anti-Heal. A relic that is a hard counter to healing of all types. Consider as your second relic only if multiple enemies have healing capabilities which are obviously turning the tide of a fight, as other relics can often have more significant effects for your team.

Magic Shell

Using this applies a shield to the owner and allies within 35 units of 100 health + 12 per god level for 3 seconds. CD 150 seconds. Upgrade also provides 2 stacks of Block, absorbing the next 2 basic attacks).

Teamfight Survival. This is a strong late-game relic option. Most effective in a teamfight, where you can activate on all nearby allies, giving them all a health shield similar to Geb's. Better as a 2nd relic, but can still be functional as a 1st choice. Upgrade is a nice counter to basic attackers due to the stacks of Block.

Blink Rune

Using this allows you to teleport short distances instantly. You have to be out of combat for 3 seconds before use. 100 second CD. Upgrade gives you a 10% damage reduction buff for 2 seconds upon use.

Initiation / Set-Up. This is a teamfight initiation tool for Supports with strong CC abilities or AOE ults, such as Ares, Geb, Sylvanus, etc. The upgrade should be considered earlier than later, as the significantly lower CD makes you a more dangerous initiation threat. The upgrade is unnecessary, though.

Shield of Thorns

Using this reflects 50% of all damage you take, before mitigations, for the next 5 seconds back to its owner as magical damage. 160 second CD. Upgrade makes enemy lifesteal from you only 50% effective for the duration.

Damage Reflection. This is a situational 2nd relic option. It is a hard counter item to low health / high burst enemies, especially ones with crit builds. If you're building tanky, you can withstand the damage, and 50% reflection (before mitigations!) will quickly make an enemy regret targeting you. Great item for Athena and Khepri, who draw attention with their taunts and pulls.

Horrific Emblem

Using this slows enemy gods within 55 units by 30% and also reduces their attack speed by 15% for 5 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade further decreases attack speed (by 25%), and decreases damage dealt by enemy gods within 35 units by 15%.

Counter to Basic Attackers. This is a great 2nd relic option when facing multiple basic attackers. The slow can also help secure kills on fleeing enemies.

Bracer of Undoing

Using this restores 40% health and mana lost within the last 5 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade subtracts 3 seconds from all abilities currently on CD.

Personal Survival. As a 2nd relic, if you're doing your job and soaking up damage in a teamfight, triggering this can restore a lot of health to you, helping you stay in a teamfight for an extended time to continue being the distraction you need to be.

Important Early Support Items

A Support's early job is usually to accompany their ADC for the first few minutes. There are some key items that are typically bought early in a match that provide a measure of offensive or defensive function. These will be covered below, but note that this list isn't necessarily comprehensive of ALL possible early items, just some of the most popular.

Gauntlet of Thebes

Pros:High dual protections and some health sustain. Evolved form provides a defensive AURA of 10 magical and physical protections to nearby allies.

Cons:Requires you to accompany teammates to build stacks. Provides no initial protections.

In evolved form, provides a great 60 magical and physical protections for you, and a small 10 magical and physical protections for nearby teammates. However, it requires you to gain assists on minion kills, so only consider if you plan on sticking with teammates in the early game.

Due to the stacks providing protections, you should play safely until at least some stacks are built.

Physical protection is helpful against physical gods, minions, and objectives, which can allow you to be more aggressive while a wave is up or to help you take a few hits from a tower to tank, and then back off and heal up with the help of the item's HP5.

Best for Supports that stick close to their teammates to provide the aura. Better when the ADC is physical, and there are more physical enemies than magical.

Magical protection is only helpful against magical gods. This item can be combined with other aura items such as Sovereignty to provide universal protection to nearby teammates.

Best for Supports that stick close to their teammates to provide the aura. Best to consider when magical threats are significantly higher than physical ones.

Jade Emperor's Crown

Pros:Solid physical protection and some health. Provides an offensive AURA that reduces physical power of nearby enemy gods, reducing their damage output.

Cons:Can only be used by magical gods. Has no sustain of any kind. Needs aggressive play to be useful.

This item is meant specifically for offensive play, as the aura is only effective against physical enemy gods. As such, it is an aggressive early item best chosen when the Support and their ADC have noticeably stronger earlier games than their counterparts.

Cons:Can only be used by magical gods. Has no sustain of any kind. Needs aggressive play to be useful.

This item is great against magical threats, and provides enhanced damage to nearby enemies for you and any other magical teammate. Best considered on Supports that have decent damage in their kits. Can be bought later in a build with good effect.

Stone of Binding

Pros:Has a moderate amount of balanced protections at a cheap price. Effective for early aggression.

Cons:Can only be used by magical gods. Has no sustain of any kind. Needs aggressive play to be useful. Requires CC to activate the passive penetration.

This is a bridge item meant for aggressive early play. While enemy protections are still low in the early game, this cheap item can come online more quickly than other full items, and can reward a strong early duo with a kill, or at least push enemies back so they have more options to farm or gank other lanes.

Since it requires CC to activate, it's best purchased for gods with lots of CC in their kits.

Breastplate of Valor

Pros:High physical protection and a large mana pool, along with a very large chunk of CDR for high ability use.

Cons:Does not provide magical protection, and has no auras to aid teammates.

Most supports are reliant on their abilities to peel for teammates, set up kills, or provide other utility. As an early purchase, it's best for gods to counter stronger physical threat, with additional function in their abilities to aid teammates, such as healing (e.g. Sylvanus or Terra).

Genji's Guard

Pros:High magical protection and incredible mana sustain, along with good CDR for high ability use.

Cons:Does not provide physical protection, and has no auras to aid teammates.

The magical counterpart to Breastplate of Valor, this item is best chosen to counter strong magical threats. High reliance on abilities to aid teammates makes this item appealing, and the high MP5 means you usually won't have mana issues even without backing or using potions.

Cons:Does not provide direct protection, and has no auras to aid teammates.

This item is great to counter magical damage, and also prepares you for late-game teamfights with the passive's damage mitigation.

Important Counter Items

A key component of operating as a Support is building items that work to counter dangerous enemies or enemy abilities. Most counter items are built in the mid to late game. The list below is not necessarily comprehensive, but covers the most popular items used for this purpose.

Hide of the Nemean Lion

Counters:Basic attack damage.

This item reflects a certain portion of incoming damage from basic attacks, so is specifically used against basic attackers. It can be especially useful against critical damage builds.

This item provides a chance to slow the attack and move speed of basic attacking enemies. The physical protection is helpful against all physical gods, while the health and attack speed slow provides universal survivability.

Strong counter item to consider against high attack speed builds and magical ADCs. Combos well with Witchblade, as well as abilities that force you to be a high threat, such as grabs and taunts.

Pestilence

Counters:Enemy healing and lifesteal.

This is the tank's anti-healing item. Specifically used to counter all healing and high lifesteal builds. The magical protection and health are also appreciated.

Spectral Armor

Counters:Critical damage.

This item is specifically built to counter critical damage builds. Reduces the bonus damage from critical strikes by 50%.

Who: Assassins form the majority of common Jungler choices, for their high mobility and great 1 v 1 boxing potential. A select few Mages, Warriors, and Guardians can also fill this role, depending on how they're built.

What: The Jungler is a wandering role, constantly on the move in the jungle and supporting multiple lanes. Rather than assigned a set position, their roving nature makes this a complex role, and their presence can shift the balance of a fight or set up an easy gank.

When: The Jungler needs to be a potential threat for ganking the entire match. Early-game gods should try to get as many early kills and objectives for their team as possible, to put them ahead. Late-game gods should try to maintain pressure until they come into their power, at which point they should go where the enemy is weakest to take down objectives and create havoc.

Where: The Jungler will often start out by securing their Speed Buff. Their main functions after that are clearing jungle camps when they respawn, providing extra pressure in the various lanes to help push, and watching closely for ganking opportunities.

Why: If you like being sneaky and get a thrill hiding in the fog and stalking your prey, sign up here.

How:Junglers should focus on mobility first, to help with roving efficiency. Depending on their kits, power, penetration, and either attack speed or CDR are all stats that help them clear camps and gank quickly. Some can even build a protection item or two and remain dangerous threats.

Mobile Jungler Start: Use this start for good jungle camp clear and sustain, as well as a small boost in mobility. It is also helpful for rushing Talaria Boots / Traveler's Shoes (or whichever other boots you decide to get).

Alternative Physical Mobile Jungler Start: As a physical jungler, if you plan to get Golden Blade, Hastened Katana or Stone Cutting Sword early, spend 200 more gold to get Katana over Shoes. This will leave you able to get only 2 potions. However, you'll have some added power, and the flexibility to either go straight into your first item or choose T3 Boots. This option is also the one if you choose to completely skip boots and go with 2 katana items for your main MS.

Magical Attack Speed Jungler Start: This start for magical gods emphasizes early attack speed from the Ring tree. This gives the opportunity to either build directly into multiple rings and skip Shoes, or build shoes and just have stronger early basic attack function.

Starting Process

Standard Start: The most common start sees the Jungler start at their Speed Buff, as it will help with early rotations. They Mid-Laner may help to clear so they can get a jump in rotations. Note that this specific camp spawns at ~0:25, slightly earlier than other jungle camps (~0:30).

Standard Start: Head to your Speed Buff (1). If you need, request assistance from the Mid-Laner for quicker clear.

From there, you'll typically clear the Solo-side back XP camp (2), proceed to the Solo-Laner'sMana Buff (3), and head toward the mid lane to clear the mid-camps (4) and possibly split a wave with your Mid-Laner.

Around this time, the Solo-side back XP camp (2) should be back up, so you can head back there, or continue on to the Damage Buff camp (5) and the Duo-side back XP camp (6). You'll typically leave the Protection Reduction Buff camp ((7) to the Duo lane.

You can even consider securing the Oracle Harpies (8), but you should have someone with you to do this.

Alternative Starts: Always consider matchups. If your Solo-Laner has a clear early matchup advantage, you can skip going to the Mana Buff (3) and head to the mid-lane early to more easily secure mid-camps or pressure the enemy Mid-Laner for an attempted gank or to make them back off and give your Mid a temporary advantage.

It's also important to consider the following:

Solo & Mid Matchups: Consider which teammate may have the more difficult matchup against the enemy. Your early presence may help them from being overly pressured.

High Pressure: If one of your laners has a strong early-game advantage, and you also have a strong early game, you may look to coordinate to attempt an early gank. Even if you don't get a kill, you may damage the enemy enough that they have to either back ASAP or play extremely conservative, freeing you up to continue roaming while your teammate now has a much easier lane.

Enemy Jungler: Do you know where the enemy Jungler is? As a precaution, dropping an early ward might be helpful (and convenient if you picked up an early Chalice of the Oracle).

Early Gameplay Elements

*NOTE* Although the Jungler may split some waves with the various lanes, jungle camps are the main priority. If there are camps to clear, or camps are going to respawn soon, that's where you should be. With the quick respawn of jungle camps, you should always have something to do.

Farming & The Minion Waves: Look to farm the jungle camps as your main priority, though you can consider the occassional sharing of minion waves in the Mid and Solo lanes if you happen to be nearby. Don't overstay your welcome, as taking too many waves can put the laner behind in XP and gold, harming them more than it helps you. Be extremely aware of your rotations and respawn timers, and prioritize jungle camps before any waves.

Enemy Laners (the players): Key to spotting potential ganks is watching how aggressive the enemies are. Of course, this is partly due to lane matchups, but unless they're careful, it can be easy to overextend. You may or may not want to jump at the first chance, but if they do it consistently, consider going all-in with your teammate(s).

Enemy Jungler (the god): Always consider this matchup. Does your god have great Early Game strength? Does the enemy lack a good escape? Depending on their level of threat, it may signal that you can attempt ganks more often, or perhaps that you need to make sure wards are always up to protect your teammates.

Totem of Ku: If you're near the Solo lane, you can consider taking the Totem of Ku, if it's up. Awareness of the state of the various lanes is important, as it becomes more helpful if your teammates are facing high pressure and find themselves under their towers more often than not. The Totem is available for the first 15 minutes of a match. It will give your team a small amount of gold (25) along with a small MS and MP5 buff for teammates while under their towers (and persisting for 10 seconds after they leave the tower area). It shouldn't be considered a high priority in most cases, as you also need to be clearing the camps, countering the enemy jungler, and pressuring lanes, all of which should provide more potential than the Totem's minor benefits.

The Oracle Harpy camp: Because of the higher quantity of camps, you'll likely be in the Jungle between the Duo and Mid-camps more than the Solo-side. Keep an eye on the Duo side jungle, specifically for the Oracle Harpy camp. The vision it grants if you can clear it is quite helpful. If you have a strong early game, and your Mid-Laner and/or Support are also able to roam a bit, you may try to steal both minions, especially if your team gets an early kill and has a temporary numbers advantage.

Warding: It is EVERYONE'S responsibility to Ward. For the Jungler in particular, you can easily drop wards in strategic locations as you roam. If you place them aggressively in the enemy zones, it can also help you spot them as they enter the jungle, giving you an opportunity for a gank, or at least help you counter-jungle. First priority in the early game should probably be to give more sight to the Mid-Laner, with secondary importance to mid-objectives. Consider picking up Chalice of the Oracle early to keep your warding pockets full. (More in the Warding section)

Backing: The best times to back are the following: 1) you have enough gold for a full item. 2) You've finished your farm rotation. 3) Your teammates are holding their own, and you don't see any specific gank opportunities. 4) You're almost dead...don't give the enemy free XP/gold by staying out while badly hurt.

Mid To Late Game Considerations & Strategies

Resources & Warding:

The Mid-game is where many Junglers shine, due to itemization supporting their power curves along with leveling their abilities. In order to maximize your effectiveness, you need to be able to balance each gameplay aspect enough so that you don't fall behind, while doing your utmost to support your team.

There are always exceptions, but these are general rules you should follow:

Anticipate Jungle Camp respawns: The more camps you can clear, the better off you will be. The jungle is your best friend with regard to experience and gold, so always try to get to camps as quickly as possible. Even better if you can steal an enemy camp or two.

Don't Forget To Ward: You want to keep track of everyone roaming the jungle, and need to pay close attention to jungle objectives. It's at this time that attempts at the Gold Fury / Fire Giant locations will often be made, so getting Sentry Wards to keep an eye on these areas is extremely important.

Look For Gank Opportunities: This should generally be a given, but other than farming and warding, this is your main job. Even if you don't secure a kill, getting the jump on an enemy and forcing them to back gives your team a temporary numbers advantage, allowing you to push objectives.

Teamfights & Split-Pushing:

The Mid-game is when teamfights start to became a common occurrence. There are generally two types of Junglers: ones that can front-line and act as a pseudo-Support who can also deal significant damage, and ones that clean up kills and shut down ADCs / Mages. Gods like Thor, Hun Batz, Fenrir, Thanatos - along with most warriors - are all gods who can initiate a fight and / or build tanky as they transition into the late game. If you're not one of these gods, you generally want to catch squishies that are damaged and retreating to secure kills. Sometimes, if they're out of position, you can even break into the enemy backline to 100-0 someone.

Another gameplay element you'll come across is split-pushing. As a roamer, you may find yourself in the right place at the right time, close to an unoccupied lane. If you feel safe (don't forget to ward!), you may attempt to push and destroy an objective on your own (or with a conveniently close tank).

The best split-pushers are those with high power, good penetration (e.g. Titan's Bane, Obsidian Shard), and fast basic attack speed. Loki is an exceptionally strong pusher. His common build has incredible penetration, he can spawn Decoy to take 3 seconds of an objective's attention (with or without minions), and he can Vanish and retreat if he finds himself in danger.

Late-Game Falloff & Hyper-Carries:

Late game is where many Junglers tend to fall off in terms of damage. However, their utility remains effective. Many players have difficulty transitioning into the late game since positioning and recognizing when an enemy is out of position is key to being effective throughout the match.

You want to be able to initiate fights and peel for your ADC / Mage to be the most effective teamfighter. You should focus less on farming now, as the main goal in the late game is to win fights and take objectives.

Of course, there are hyper-carries such as Kali, Ao Kuang, and Mercury. If you are a hyper-carry, positioning is even more important. Since you don't usually build tanky as hyper-carries, you have a lot less leeway for the damage you take. Unlike the other Junglers, you don't usually want to initiate fights. Focus more on the part of picking squishies off in the backline by sneaking around behind them. You'll 100-0 them even more quickly.

Early & Late-Game Junglers

Strong Early-Game Junglers

This section covers Junglers who specifically have a strong early game compared to others. It's helpful to know which gods can be played more aggressively at the start, so you can either take advantage when you choose them, or know to watch out if you're against one.

Some of these gods do not necessarily fall off in the late game.

Achilles has great base damage and incredible scaling, especially in his Shield of Achilles. Add to that a chainable executing ult, quick CD dodge/mobility, and self buffing/healing, and you've got yourself a solid early-game jungler.

Arachne: She has strong early game damage with her Venomous Bite, and her Web not only slows the enemy and increases her own speed, but breaking the web spawns two broodlings who also attack, helping her quickly take down her prey.

Artio: At level 1, she has double the abilities of gods that don't stance-switch. Her base damage is pretty hefty, and she has a lot of control in her kit, so she can build tanky and still be effective. Her damage definitely falls off late-game, and she should become a disruptor rather than a pure killer.

Awilix: She can clear a camp faster than anyone else throughout the game, with high overall damage to boot. However, to hit her abilities, she requires getting close to her opponent, so being aggressive with positioning is a must. She is the ultimate counter to gods with leaps, due to Gravity Surge, and has a lot of CC in her kit for devastating combos and tricks. She is highly effective with a team of knock-ups, letting her combos flow easily, and she remains strong throughout the match.

Bakasura: His true-damage Butcher Blades give him some strong threat as soon as it comes online, and it's likely you'll see some early kills.

Bastet: She has a great, high-powered bleed in Razor Whip, and her Pounce allows her to surprise the enemy and get back to safety if things quickly turn sour. When she hits level 5, her Cat Call spawns 3 kitties that, if placed well, can body-block the enemy and prevent them from retreating. Since many Mages and some ADCs don't have leaps, this can really help secure kills. She falls off hard late-game.

Bellona: Her early-game clear and damage is incredible. Take advantage and get the jump on enemies to give her a nice advantage.

Cabrakan: Solid base damage and control can help secure early kills, if he can surprise enemies.

Camazotz: Batman has a solid early game, as his abilities start with pretty good damage, while also having a lot of sustain / healing built into his kit. This makes him an early-game pest. His abilities have good scaling, though he's perhaps less of a threat late-game, but he can be extremely functional built with some protection items. That, combined with his healing, can allow him to outlast enemies.

Chernobog: His ultimate is very strong, allowing him to relocate himself to any enemy god for a gank. This makes him extremely strong as soon as he hits level 5. His normal 1-2 combo can deal a lot of damage and lock enemies down.

Fenrir: He has the ability to kill the enemy Jungler and Mid-Laner by level 2 when using his stuns correctly. His Brutalize is a hugely damaging ability early on, and can clear camps effectively. Can counter-jungle quite easily and safely with 3 escapes in his kit. Ragnarok usually requires Purification Beads to counter, and anyone caught in his maw is sure to be dead with the right positioning (they can be literally dragged into tower shots and minion waves). It is a good idea to focus the Mid-Laner and ADC as they have little to no power early on.

He Bo is a risky pick as Jungler, because he doesn't have any real mobility. This means he has to play confidently and aggressively. He's got easy long distance poke, a very strong minion clear with low CD, and an incredibly powerful ult.

Odin: He has high early burst potential with his Raven Shout to Lunge (Bird Bomb) combo. When he hits level 5, his infamous Ring of Spears can trap enemies for up to 6 seconds to help secure kills with a teammate. His damage potential falls off in the late-game, but his utility remains strong in teamfights.

Osiris: Although he doesn't have any special early mobility, he does the opposite to his enemies. At level 2, he has a significant, 3 second slow with his Sickle Strike. At level 3 with 1 point in all 3 of his basic abilities, he can stack slows and turn it into a stun, all the while continuing to do damage with his quick basic attack chain.

Ratatoskr: Multiple CC abilities are what make him deadly in the early game. He has a slow, protection reduction, a stun, and a knockup by level 5, while also being able to stay out and upgrade his Magic Acorn without having to go back to base. When completed, that acorn gives his abilities a bit of HEALING. He's the rodent that has it all.

Ravana: He has high early burst potential in his Prana Onslaught along with a quick basic attack chain. When built with Frostbound Hammer he can really CC enemies to help secure kills, though his damage falls off in the late-game.

Susano: He has great early-game damage ( Storm Kata), control ( Wind Siphon), and chase potential ( Jet Stream). His damage falls off somewhat in the late-game, but his utility and teamfighting control remains.

Thanatos: He has one of the highest early game damage in the game with his Death Scythe and strong basic attacks. When he reaches level 5, his partially global ult Hovering Death is an easy way to secure kills with enhanced mobility and a stun/execute.

Thor: He has decent early game damage but incredible mobility. Laid across a lane, his Tectonic Rift can prevent an enemy from retreating for 4 seconds, during which time he and a teammate can make quick work of an enemy. When he reaches level 5, his partially global ult Anvil of Dawn allows him to drop right in on an unsuspecting enemy.

Ymir: Although his mobility is poor, his high base ability damage, combined with an extremely effective freeze, make him a powerful early game threat for ganks. His Frostbite allows him to clear camps quickly, and his natural tankiness makes him an unattractive target.

Strong Mid / Late-Game Junglers

This section covers Junglers who have a weak early game, but start really ramping up in power the closer they get to the late-game and full build. These include late-game hyper-carries such as Kali and Mercury.

When playing these gods, it's best to play conservatively in the early stages, doing your utmost to farm efficiently both in the jungle and sharing lanes, and help your team in other ways besides pure damage. Make sure you ward constantly and help plan ganks until you come into your own power.

Ao Kuang: His ult's execute is always a threat once he reaches level 5, but his damage output really jumps as he builds power and penetration. With some enhanced attack speed, it makes Dragon Call a force in and of itself, and his Water Illusion gives him an easy means of escape.

Athena: She can actually be pretty dangerous early-game with her CC, but her base damage and scaling are also good. Once she has a bit of power and pen, she can output a good amount of damage.

Cernunnos: As with most hunters, his threat level is item-dependent. He's got a bit of mobility, as well as a stun, a slow, and a nice polymorphing ult, which gives him nice teamfight presence. Shifter of Seasons and his passive Heavy Glaive make him a pretty good jungle camp clearer with nice built-in lifesteal to allow him to stay out longer, so he's pretty solid early-game as well, at least with regard to rotations.

Da Ji: At level 1, she's extremely weak with her clear, but that improves fairly quickly (put 2 points into her One Thousand Cuts. That said, she's got good scaling in her abilities, meaning that more items with power significantly increase her damage output. She's probably strongest in the mid-game.

Erlang Shen: In order to be a decent threat, he needs multiple abilities to be leveled, and to have at least 3 or 4 items online, including Qin's Sais. Once he's online, he's high-threat.

Freya: Her damage output is extremely reliant on her items. Her main focus is attack speed and penetration, and when both Pulse and Irradiate are maxed, she does similar damage to a crit-based hunter.

Hun Batz: He has good scaling on his abilities, making him significantly more effective the more power he has. Has a teamfight-altering ult for the later stages of the game.

Kali: She is extremely item-dependent, as her power stems from her basic attacks. Often built with attack speed to get as many hits with Qin's Sais as possible, and when she focuses an enemy that's Marked for Death, she can knock them down one after the other. Considered a late-game hyper-carry.

Kuzenbo: He has a nice push ability that can drive enemies toward your side if you are able to sneak and attack from behind them. However, his main strength is going to be late-game when his Shell Spikes are leveled up...he can create a lot of disruption by getting in the face of high damage dealers, while surviving due to being tanky w/ defensive items.

Loki: He is extremely item-dependent, and wants as much as he can get of power and penetration for his amazing burst damage potential. His abilities do significantly more damage as they are leveled, and he can 100-0 an enemy almost more easily than any other god.

Mercury: With his attack speed steroid maxed (70%!), he can burst enemies down with a full crit build (which, incidentally, is EXPENSIVE).

Nemesis: As a basic attacker, she's extremely reliant on items to support her damage output. As she reaches level 20, her ult also has a huge effect on her target at the start of a fight.

Poseidon: The jungle is his ocean. His passive, Changing Tides, gives him great inherent speed as he builds his Tide level up in the jungle, boosted by his Trident. It also gives him huge damage potential for when he flies out of the jungle to lock down an unsuspecting enemy with Whirlpool and obliterates them with Release The Kraken!

Serqet: Another god that is reliant on crit items, Deathbane gives you 3 quick chances at crit damage. Her damage late-game with a full build is incredible.

The Morrigan: Weak clear and general damage output in the early game is made up in the late game with good scaling and a greater choice of ult target effectiveness.

Misc. Info (Relics)

Relics

*NOTE* Relics can be upgraded at a price of 500 gold.

Here are suggested relics that should be of most use to the Jungler.

Purification Beads

Using this removes CC effects and makes you immune to new ones for 2 seconds. 160 second CD. Upgrade decreases CD to 130 seconds.

Anti-CC. Often a first choice, this can help you escape from pulls and other potentially deadly CC. Practically a staple for a jungler.

Aegis Amulet

Using this makes you invulnerable to damage for 1.5 seconds, preventing you from taking action, but allowing you to move. 180 second CD. Upgrade decreases CD to 150 seconds.

Anti-Burst. This is a solid choice as the 1st or 2nd relic, when facing enemies (such as Thanatos, Scylla or Poseidon) with high burst potential that can be anticipated.

Heavenly Wings

Using this buffs the movement speed of allies within 55 units by 20% for 5 seconds and makes them immune to slows. 140 second CD. Upgrade provides immunity to basic attack slow penalty.

Chase / Escape. Another relic that is often chosen first. Can be used offensively to chase a retreating enemy and secure a kill, or (more often) used as an escape to create distance between you and the enemy. The upgrade provides a Haste effect, which can be helpful when boxing, especially for basic attackers.

Phantom Veil

Using this allows you and teammates within 35 units to pass through players and player-made objects for 5 seconds. Upgrade increases duration to 10 seconds, and provides a 15% damage reduction buff for 5 seconds.

Escape from Barriers. This is a hard counter item to abilities like Odin's Ring of Spears and Ymir's Ice Wall. Extremely useful defensive relic that may be essential for any god without an escape ability (e.g. Ne Zha).

Horrific Emblem

Using this slows enemy gods within 55 units by 30% and also reduces their attack speed by 15% for 5 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade further decreases attack speed (by 25%), and decreases damage dealt by enemy gods within 35 units by 15%.

Chase/Counter to Basic Attackers. This is a great 2nd relic option when facing multiple basic attackers. The slow can also help secure kills on fleeing enemies.

Blink Rune

Using this allows you to teleport short distances instantly. You have to be out of combat for 3 seconds before use. 100 second CD. Upgrade gives you a 10% damage reduction buff for 2 seconds upon use.

Surprise Assassination. This is a very aggressive choice to quickly close gaps and pick off a vulnerable player. Can be used to get past the front line in a teamfight, or even chase a retreating player.

Sundering Spear

Using this fires a bolt that stops on the first god hit and deals 15% of the target's current health as true damage. CD 140 seconds. Upgrade increases damage taken by the target by 20% for 5 seconds.

Risky Tank Killer. You can use this situationally at the beginning of a fight to increase your damage output against a single target. Especially with the upgrade, the increased damage they take can allow you to take them down very quickly. Risky because this is a skill shot. Only consider if you're steamrolling the enemy team and don't need any of the other relics.

Belt of Frenzy

All allied gods in a 70 radius gain a 10% increased Damage dealt to all targets, including objectives, and 15% Attack Speed increase for 5 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade provides an additional +10 Penetration to all gods affected and increases the duration to 8 seconds.

Offensive Push. As a 2nd relic, the added damage this provides can help you quickly defeat enemies or objectives.

Bracer of Undoing

Using this restores 40% health and mana lost within the last 5 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade subtracts 3 seconds from all abilities currently on CD.

Personal Survival. As a 2nd relic, the health restore can save your life from high burst.

*SmoothHomie's Quick Jungle Guide*

If you'd like to read another guide on the Jungle role, SmoothHomie has provided some great information and strategies. Check it out!

Who: almost all standard Mid-Laners are Mages. This is not only in magical / physical balance to natural preferences for other roles, but also because Mages have great ranged damage potential, many of which are AOE. Some ability-reliant hunters (e.g. Medusa, Neith) can also do well in this role.

What:Mid-Laners often need to have strong wave-clear potential. If they are weak in the early game but can force a stalemate until their power spikes, they can shift the balance of power in a teamfight, allowing their team to secure objectives.

When: with the wide range of abilities, strengths and weaknesses, some gods will find themselves more effective at certain times. It's important for them to take advantage of their strengths and push when they are able, without overextending themselves.

Where: as their name implies, they are mainly in charge of controlling the Mid-Lane and surrounding areas. They will venture outside their lane here and there (read: Mid-Camps, central objectives, gank attempts), but until the mid to late game when they group up to split-push and teamfight, they need to cement the center of the map.

Why: because...you like magical things. You like blasting things. You want to be Harry Potter or Gandalf...?

How:Mid-Laners need to balance mana consumption while always applying pressure to the enemy Mid-Laner. Focus is often on items that provide a deep mana pool, along with high power and penetration to maximize damage. However, some mages do well built a bit more tanky, and can be effective when building some health and protections.

Responsibilities: clear the minion waves, apply pressure with poke damage and by pushing towers without overextending, work with the Jungler to set up ganks, avoid ganks by the enemy Support and Jungler.

Gameplay Stages

Starting Items

Starting Items

Here are suggested starting items depending on which way you decide to build. Stacking items like Book of Thoth and Warlock's Sash are common rush items, though most will start with the starter item Mage's Blessing.

Standard Blessing / Book of Thoth Start: The benefit from Mage's Blessing for early wave-clear help is hard to pass up. Get T1 of Book of Thoth to start working on the stacking item, which is great for high mana and power.

Book of Thoth Rush Start: If your main priority is to get Book of Thoth online as soon as possible, get the T2 item and some potions. You are likely to experience some early wave-clear issues until you get the full item.

Early Pressure Start: This start will prepare you for an early Divine Ruin or Spear of the Magus, depending on your lane enemy and your god choice. Divine Ruin can be a hard counter to healers, while some specific gods can easily get multiple stacks of Magus to deal true damage.

Starting Process

Standard (Mid-Lane) Start: You will typically help your Jungler get an quicker start by helping clear their Speed Buff (0). Note that it spawns at ~0:25, slightly earlier than other jungle camps. Use your wave-clear ability and then head directly to lane.

Clear the first wave (1). Depending on who can clear more quickly, you can either decide, or you'll have to react to what the enemy chooses to do. First priority will normally be to contest or secure mid-harpies (2), but if they strongly beat you out and look like they might be attempting to steal the Damage Buff (3), that may become your priority.

If you're strongly out-clearing the enemy, you can attempt to go for their Damage Buff (3*) or at least steal the small minions. From there, you'll mostly focus on clearing waves and poking the enemy, while watching for gank attempts. Whenever the Damage Buff (3) is up, you want to try to secure it.

Keep an eye on enemy location, as you'll want to protect or secure the Oracle Harpies (4) if you see an opportunity.

Early Gameplay Elements

Farming & The Minion Waves: Should be your number one priority. Clearing the wave before the enemy allows you to safely poke the other Mid-Laner, possibly forcing them to back early, or hide under their tower, where they may lose some resources to their tower. Pushing them back also allows you to more easily secure mid-camps and buffs when they're up. You can also look to accompany the Jungler to hit nearby jungle camps, or clear them yourself if the Jungler is nowhere near.

Enemy Mid-Laner (the player): Try to judge the type of player they are. Are they extremely safe? Overly aggressive? If they push too far, you might try calling your Jungler for a gank attempt.

Enemy Mid-Laner (the god): Consider the matchup carefully. Do they have strong early-game presence via AOE abilities, strong poke damage, etc.? Evaluating the matchup properly can help you play with the most efficiency to avoid unnecessary damage, poke effectively, and gauge just how aggressive you can be.

The Oracle Harpy camp: Keep an eye on the Duo side jungle, specifically for the Oracle Harpy camp. The vision it grants if you can clear it is quite helpful. If you have a strong early game, and your Jungler and/or Support are also able to roam a bit, you may try to steal both minions, especially if your team gets an early kill and has a temporary numbers advantage.

Zoning out the enemy: Keeping up the pressure in your lane, and preventing the enemy from easily walking into the jungle will really help your teammates out. Forcing them to stay defensive means you'll be pushing your lane a bit, so you'll need to be careful if you do so, but with wards and good jungle presence from your teammates, you won't have to worry as much about being ganked.

Warding: Since both Junglers have to rotate through the Mid-Lane quite a bit, warding is a necessity for survival. More wards near the mid-camps and the lanes leading to the Mid-Lane can mean the difference between life and death. Dying early in the game makes it an uphill battle throughout the rest of the match. (More in the Warding section)

Backing: Unless you're hurt too much, try to back only when both the mid-camps and minion waves have been cleared recently and you have enough gold for a full item. You want to prevent any opportunities for the enemy to push your lane, so if needed, let your teammates know you're backing so either the Support or Jungler can fill in while you're away.

Mid to Late Game Considerations & Strategies

Teamfighting

Where all other roles have variable functions (roaming, split-pushing, etc.), a teamfight usually revolves around the Mid-Laner.

Usually the most squishy god besides the ADC (and maybe the Jungler), most Mid-Laners are built for high burst damage. Their abilities can quickly alter the course of a battle, which is why they're often the main target. Unlike the ADC, who does high, sustained single-target damage, this role often unleashes burst AOE effects and massive ultimates, making them extremely valuable teamfighters.

Use Protection: Wherever you go, you should always make sure a teammate (preferably a tank) is close. By yourself, you are extremely vulnerable to ganks by the enemy Jungler, or even the Solo-Laner, if they have a strong late game. Warriors can be the most annoying enemy to you, as they can kill you, while you can't kill them.

Aim Your Gun: As a Mid-Laner, you should treat a teamfight as "survival of the fittest." Although the enemy Support may be closer to you, your target should be the enemy squishies, while you allow your own Support to protect you from front-line damage. You should always let your tanks protect you while you hide in the backline, unless you're a hybrid mage with strong teamfight abilities or decent protections.

Tag-Team CC: The easiest way to set up a kill is to daisy-chain CC effects. If Ymir initiates with Frost Breath and Scylla can Sic 'Em, that enemy will be easily be locked down long enough to use I'm a Monster to demolish that unfortunate goal. Of course, CC is subject to diminishing returns, and you can read more about it HERE (see at the bottom).

Other Elements

Objectives: In force, you should always be looking to push objectives with your teammates. When it comes to the Oracle Harpies, Gold Fury, Pyromancer or Fire Giant, make sure you save your burst abilities for when they are at low health, as you don't want to give your enemies a chance to steal them.

Warding: Even if your teammates are warding the jungle, it won't hurt for you to drop a couple down to increase your vision. Early warning of attempted ganks will save your life. Chalice of the Oracle is a cheap 400 gold. Don't skimp unless you're steamrolling the enemy and constantly pushing them back...but it never hurts to be safe.

Misc. Info (Relics)

Relics

*NOTE* Relics can be upgraded at a price of 500 gold.

Here are suggested relics that should be of most use to the Mid-Laner.

Purification Beads

Using this removes CC effects and makes you immune to new ones for 2 seconds. 160 second CD. Upgrade decreases CD to 130 seconds.

Anti-CC. Often a first choice, this can help you escape from pulls and other potentially deadly CC. Practically a staple for a Mid-Laner.

Aegis Amulet

Using this makes you invulnerable to damage for 1.5 seconds, preventing you from taking action, but allowing you to move. 180 second CD. Upgrade decreases CD to 150 seconds.

Anti-Burst. This is a solid choice against enemies (such as Thanatos, Scylla or Poseidon) with high burst potential that can be anticipated.

Heavenly Wings

Using this buffs the movement speed of allies within 55 units by 20% for 5 seconds and makes them immune to slows. 140 second CD. Upgrade provides immunity to basic attack slow penalty.

Chase / Escape. Another relic that is often chosen first. Can be used offensively to chase a retreating enemy and secure a kill, or (more often) used as an escape to create distance between you and the enemy.

Phantom Veil

Using this allows you and teammates within 35 units to pass through players and player-made objects for 5 seconds. Upgrade increases duration to 10 seconds, and provides a 15% damage reduction buff for 5 seconds.

Escape from Barriers. This is a hard counter item to abilities like Odin's Ring of Spears and Ymir's Ice Wall. Extremely useful defensive relic that may be essential for any god without an escape ability (e.g. Anubis).

Bracer of Undoing

Using this restores 40% health and mana lost within the last 5 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade subtracts 3 seconds from all abilities currently on CD.

Personal Survival. As a 1st or 2nd relic, the health restore can save your life from sudden burst damage.

Who: Warriors are often chosen for the Solo role, as they generally have a good balance of damage and survivability to hold their own. More than any other lane, however, a wide variety of gods/classes can be chosen with a good chance for success. It's more about how the individual gods match up. Gods that have sustain via self healing can have an advantage.

What: More than any other lane, the Solo lane generally plays the closest to a 1 v 1 match. Threat from the Jungler is always a possibility, but the main objective is to out-play the enemy Solo.

When:Solo-laners may be stronger early or late. Early gods should try to take advantage and pressure the enemy, while the best strategy for late-game gods is to force a stalemate until you're stronger.

Where: As the name implies, of course. You won't stray often from the Solo lane until mid-game, when the teams start fighting more in groups.

Why: If you like 1 v 1 battles, this role is calling your name.

How: Most Solo-laners will build tanky, though some of the more aggressive picks may build more into damage. Counter-building the enemy Solo god - as well as the Jungler - is key.

Responsibilities: Clear minion waves, protect your tower, secure the Totem of Ku, out-farm the enemy, work with your Jungler to secure kills in the early game. Be in the middle of teamfights in the late game.

Gameplay Stages

Starting Items

Starting Items

Here are suggested starting items based on class. Suggested first relic depends partially on class and partially on enemy laner.

*NOTE* You may consider NOT getting a relic until your first back. Sometimes, it's difficult to tell who the enemy Solo-Laner will be. Getting Teleport Glyph when you think Bellona is going Solo, only to find out that it's actually Fenrir, can put you in a bad situation.

Teleport Glyph is an early Solo crutch that helps you get back to your lane ASAP after buying items/healing up, preventing you from losing on farming or allowing the enemy to push your tower. It can also be considered as the level 12 relic, just to help with mobility to get where you're needed ASAP, especially considering the larger map. If you DO get this, you can get some nice late-game function by having teammates drop wards close to a teamfight or objective to help you relocate quickly.

Standard Sustain Start: If you're looking for a direct counter to expected pressure from a strong early-game enemy, or are just looking for good sustain while exchanging blows, consider this basic start:

Shield Bridge Start: This is an alternate start for physical gods looking to build into either Gladiator's Shield (ability users) or Berserker's Shield (basic attackers) to provide sustain and some early pressure.

Aggression Start: This start for physical gods looks to move you quickly into Soul Eater for high early pressure and good sustain from both basic attacks AND abilities. This is meant mainly for ability users, and can be especially helpful if they have strong early games.

Mobility Start: If you really want some move speed, have healing in your kit, don't have a lot of mobility, this start can be considered though you should be expected to slowly lose lane and won't be able to pressure much.

Blessing of your choice, Boots or Shoes, up to 6x potions (your choice).

Passive Start: Many Solo gods have weak early wave clear. If you know your matchup is bad for you in the early game, this start prevents you from losing farm, while giving you situational health and mana sustain, and increased gold once fully stacked.

Starting Process

Standard (Lane) Start: You're likely to start in the Solo-Lane by yourself. Head directly to your lane (1) to clear the first wave.

Out-clearing the enemy provides options for varying levels of aggression, so clearing quickly and efficiently is important.

If you can significantly out-clear the enemy, you can attempt a few things:

Continue attacking them with the help of your minions

Attempt to steal their Mana Buff (2), or get a head start on clearing your own Mana Buff (0) if it's spawned.

Take down the Totem of Ku. If you're winning lane/outclearing, it's unlikely to help you much, but it can help your teammates in their respective lanes.

If you are out-cleared, you'll need to react to the enemies' movements. More than anything, you want to protect your buffs.

Your main early objective is to stay in-lane, clear waves and poke the enemy, picking up the Mana Buff whenever it respawns. If your lane enemy leaves lane, be sure to warn teammates.

Early Gameplay Elements

Health/Mana Conservation: The Mana Buff will help your mana sustain, but you will still want to conserve when possible. Try to save potions as much as you can. If you run out and need to back, make sure you do whatever you can to get back to your lane ASAP (via Teleport Glyph, Heavenly Wings, or any other abilities that increase your movement speed).

Farming & The Minion Waves (Clearing Abilities): Try to farm efficiently. Main priority is clearing the minion wave. If you have strong clearing capabilities, focus on that first, and only attack the enemy god after you've cleared the wave, as minion damage really hurts at this stage.

Farming & The Minion Waves (Strong Early Game / Boxing): If you have weak wave clear but good early damage and boxing strength, you can consider bullying the enemy by forcing them away from the minion wave due to direct threat from you. This can make them lose out on farming and also allow you to clear safely while they go back to heal up.

Totem of Ku: If you've secured your own Mana buff and the minion waves are under control, you can consider taking the Totem of Ku, which is available for the first 15 minutes of a match. It will give your team a small amount of gold (25) along with a small buff for teammates while under their towers. If you've got an advantage in the Solo matchup and are not concerned about a gank by the enemy Jungler, it can be worthwhile, rather than standing around and just waiting for the next minion wave. It can also help teammates that have been pushed under their towers. However, it doesn't provide a strong enough bonus to make it worth a death, so don't take this or contest it if it's possible you could die.

Building & Counter-Building: Your main build focus should be to counter the enemy laner. It helps even more if both the enemy Jungler and Solo-Laner deal the same type of damage.

Zoning out the enemy: Keeping up the pressure in your lane, and preventing the enemy from easily walking into the jungle will really help your teammates out. Forcing them to stay defensive means you'll be pushing your lane a bit, so you'll need to be careful of jungle ganks. Wards and good jungle presence from your teammates can help, and you won't have to worry as much about being ganked.

Setting up a gank: If you've got a weak early game, you're likely to be pressured back toward your tower. In the case the enemy laner is being aggressive and pushing close to your tower, call for a gank from the Jungler, and bait them into concentrating on you (which means stay close to their ability range and not hiding way under the tower). This will make it easier for the Jungler to secure a kill or force them to back due to low health. Be ready to push back and help the Jungler.

Warding: You may want to ward the near jungle to protect yourself from gank attempts. The more aggressive you place, the more it can help your Jungler, but the more exposed you may be. Chalice of the Oracle is fairly cheap, and you should consider picking it up ASAP. (More in the Warding section)

Backing: Go back to base only when needed or you have enough to buy a full item. If you picked up Teleport Glyph, use it to get back to your lane ASAP.

It's a balance between being safe and being aggressive. A gank attempt by the enemy Jungler is always possible, so it's important to save escape abilities when possible. If your enemy is being aggressive and pushing toward your tower, it's safer for you to engage, since your tower is closer. They're also more exposed, so with the help of your own Jungler, you may be able to attempt a gank, or at least damage them enough so they have to back early, making them lose out on farming.

Mid To Late Game Considerations & Strategies

The main goal as you transition to the Mid-Game is to beat out your lane enemy (resources, kills, etc.) and take down the first tower. Your positioning will be more defined by this time. If you’re winning your lane, you can afford to be more aggressive and push the towers, roam a bit if you spot a gank opportunity, or play defensively if you find yourself falling behind.

Strong communication with your Jungler can be extremely helpful, as they can help you push the tower, gank an overexposed enemy, or give you support if you're being pushed hard.

Pay attention to where teammates are. If it looks like a teamfight is going to occur, you should probably be there to contribute.

Gameplay Elements

Keep the resources coming: a key to winning your lane is to out-farm the enemy. This includes clearing all minion waves ASAP, damaging the enemy when possible, making the enemy back often, and NOT DYING. Dying means you miss out on clearing some waves, while your tower is probably attacked. You always want to keep gaining XP and gold to keep yourself relevant, no matter where you go. If you've gone into the jungle or changed lanes to possibly help in a teamfight, you should clear waves / camps given the opportunity.

Relics: Think about getting a team-wide relic, such as Magic Shell, Horrific Emblem, etc., to help give your team an edge in teamfights. Another option, if you didn't get it first, is to get Teleport Glyph to help you jump to areas you may be needed quickly, given proper teamwork. One final relic you might like is Bracer of Undoing, for personal survivability.

Warding: Don't forget this. Continue to ward throughout the match! Key locations for wards are now more central to the map, and include objectives such as the Fire Giant.

Teamfights (Tanky / Strong CC) - Protecting Teammates: This is a priority. If you have CC abilities that help peel (e.g. slows / stuns), you should save them to protect your teammates, unless you've got the enemy on the run and your teammates are relatively safe. Also, if your teammates are being targeted, remember that you can body-block.

Teamfights (Bruiser / Strong Harass) - Pressure Enemies: If you have relatively weak CC but strong damage potential, the best defense may be a good offense. If you're a god like Bellona, Ravana, Osiris, Tyr, etc., and have built items like Frostbound Hammer, keep the enemy's attention on you rather than your teammates by being in their faces.

Teamfights - Positioning: you should be in the front-lines with your Support, drawing as much attention as possible to keep your high-damage teammates safer. Your damage output should be better than the Support, though, so if you see an opportunity to secure a kill safely, go for it.

Split-Pushing: if you and the Jungler or ADC see an opportunity to split-push, you may consider accompanying them to support by tanking towers/phoenixes, or protect them with CC/peel abilities.

Out-Strategizing The Enemy

Since the Solo lane is almost a 1 v 1 for a good portion of the match, outplaying the enemy isn't just winning your lane. Forcing them to back early can open up multiple options.

Steal Jungle Camps: Rather than just allowing you to push your lane, you can steal their jungle camps. These camps provide a way to help the enemy maintain farming, so taking this away from them can put them behind even more!

Ganking: If the enemy had to go back to base, they'll either have to use Teleport or run back, which will take time. You can consider rotating to another lane to attempt a gank.

Proxy-Farming: Only attempt if you have wards up and feel relatively safe after making an enemy back. Proxy-farming is pushing your lane, allowing your minions to take tower damage, while you go behind the tower to clear the next incoming wave much earlier than normal. This automatically gives you at least an extra 30 seconds where you don't have to worry about maintaining your lane, buying you time to rotate or do anything else you want to do.

Out-Maneuvering: As an example, let's say you've been out-farming your enemy. You force them to back yet again, you clear the wave, maybe proxy-farm the next one, and they've had to use their Teleport to prevent themselves from falling even further behind. If you have your own Teleport up, you are now free to go anywhere else to support teammates, likely in an out-numbered situation...that enemy you just left in the dust either has to run all the way to a fight, or leave his team at a disadvantage while he tries to catch up in lane.

Misc. Info (Relics)

Relics

*NOTE* Relics can be upgraded at a price of 500 gold.

Here are suggested relics that should be of most use to the Solo-Laner.

Teleport Glyph

Using this allows you to teleport to any allied tower or ward, without damage interruption, while being unable to move. You are still interrupted by hard Crowd Control. 200 second CD. Upgrade allows you to teleport to allied wards.

Early Dueling / Strategic Repositioning. This is chosen as the first relic, only when there are no direct enemy Solo/Jungle gank threats that require Purification (such as a Fenrir). Helps get you back to your lane when you back, and later, via placed wards, can help you get to a teamfight ASAP.

Purification Beads

Using this removes CC effects and makes you immune to new ones for 2 seconds. 160 second CD. Upgrade decreases CD to 130 seconds.

Anti-CC. Often a first choice, this can help you escape from pulls and other potentially deadly CC.

Aegis Amulet

Using this makes you invulnerable to damage for 1.5 seconds, preventing you from taking action, but allowing you to move. 180 second CD. Upgrade decreases CD to 150 seconds.

Anti-Burst. This is a solid choice against enemies (such as Thanatos, Scylla or Poseidon) with high burst potential that can be anticipated.

Heavenly Wings

Using this buffs the movement speed of allies within 55 units by 20% for 5 seconds and makes them immune to slows. 140 second CD. Upgrade provides immunity to basic attack slow penalty.

Chase / Escape. Another relic that is often chosen first. Can be used offensively to chase a retreating enemy and secure a kill, or (more often) used as an escape to create distance between you and the enemy. The upgrade provides a Haste effect, which can be helpful when boxing, especially for basic attackers

Blink Rune

Using this allows you to teleport short distances instantly. You have to be out of combat for 3 seconds before use. 100 second CD. Upgrade gives you a 10% damage reduction buff for 2 seconds upon use.

Initiation / Set-Up. This is a choice for specific gods like Odin and Xing Tian to quickly close gaps and surprise enemies (especially groups of enemies). Upgrading this is generally unnecessary.

Bracer of Undoing

Using this restores 40% health and mana lost within the last 5 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade subtracts 3 seconds from all abilities currently on CD.

Personal Survival. As a 2nd relic, if you're doing your job and soaking up damage in a teamfight, triggering this can restore a lot of health to you, helping you stay in a teamfight for an extended time.

Horrific Emblem

Using this slows enemy gods within 55 units by 30% and also reduces their attack speed by 15% for 5 seconds. 120 second CD. Upgrade further decreases attack speed (by 25%), and decreases damage dealt by enemy gods within 35 units by 15%.

Chase/Counter to Basic Attackers. This is a great 2nd relic option when facing multiple basic attackers. The slow can also help secure kills on fleeing enemies.

Magic Shell

Using this applies a shield to the owner and allies within 35 units of 100 health + 12 per god level for 3 seconds. CD 150 seconds. Upgrade also provides 2 stacks of Block, absorbing the next 2 basic attacks.

Teamfight Defense. This is a strong late-game relic option. Most effective in a teamfight, where you can activate on all nearby allies, giving them all a health shield similar to Geb's. Better as a 2nd relic. Upgrade provides a nice counter to basic attackers due to the stacks of Block.

Sundering Spear

Using this fires a bolt that stops on the first god hit and deals 15% of the target's current health as true damage. CD 140 seconds. Upgrade increases damage taken by the target by 20% for 5 seconds.

Risky Duel Advantage. Because this only has offensive function, it's a risky investment. If you're confident in your ability to land this, it can give you a solid advantage when fighting enemy gods, helping you win your lane early. Consider upgrading early.

Shield of Thorns

Using this reflects 50% of all damage you take, before mitigations, for the next 5 seconds back to its owner as magical damage. 160 second CD. Upgrade makes enemy lifesteal from you only 50% effective for the duration.

Damage Reflection. This is a situational 2nd relic option. It is a hard counter item to low health / high burst enemies, especially ones with crit builds. If you're building tanky, you can withstand the damage, and 50% reflection (before mitigations!) will quickly make an enemy regret targeting you.

Warding

Wards are your extra set(s) of eyes. A necessity for pros, and whose use and placement is an enigma for new players. That's why we're going to cover some warding basics.

Regulars: you can skip this section if you feel solid on this, or you can pretend you're young and innocent and continue reading.

First, some general info:

Wards costs 50 gold, and allows you to see normal enemy movement within 45 units. It respects line of sight and can't see through walls or stealth. Remains for 3 minutes or until destroyed (3 basic attacks). It is invisible to enemies and cannot be targeted unless Sentry Wards are used nearby. Can only carry 2 at one time, and only 2 wards of any kind can be active at one time from any one player.

Sentry Ward costs 120 gold, and does all of the things regular wards do, but ALSO allows you to see enemy wards, which additionally allows you to target and destroy them. Can only carry 1 at one time, and only 2 wards of any kind can be active at one time from any one player.

Chalice of the Oracle costs 400 gold, and provides you with a stack of 2 standard wards that are refilled EVERY TIME YOU BACK. If you value vision and use a ton of wards every game, this is a reasonably-priced consumable that everyone should consider purchasing.

When enemies enter the range of a friendly Ward, an audible *ping* can be heard, and a visual effect can be seen on the mini-map. Train your mind you react to this sound and glance at the mini-map every time you hear it.

Wards are commonly used in most areas of the jungle, and even in front of enemy towers. Sentry Wards are often used close to the Gold Fury and Fire Giant, and are also used to counter-ward commonly used areas.

Warding 101

Who: The correct answer is EVERYONE. In casual games, the reality is that you can't really depend on all teammates to ward properly, or even at all. Depending on team comps and skill levels, you might be able to get by with just the Support and Jungler warding, but that's asking for trouble. So, the more people that ward, the better off you'll be.

What: Pretty much went over the basics above.

When: Against a really strong/aggressive early-game Jungler, your team might want to place a couple of wards at the very beginning of a match. However, the time when things become more dangerous is usually when gods hit level 5 and their ults become active, and this is the point when wards become more essential. But ganks aren't the only concern...there are multiple strategic objectives that should also be watched and warded when possible.

Where: Good question. We'll go over it in detail below.

Why: Because you like spotting vulnerable enemies. Because you don't like to be ganked. Because you don't want the enemy team to get key objectives. Because you want to be a good teammate. Awww, how sweet.

How: Well, for starters, buy them at the fountain. But you can learn how best to place them, given the situation, in significant detail below.

Keep in mind, locations in the maps below are based on you being on the Order side, and the enemy being on the Chaos side. It may be obvious, but these locations should be generally reversed if you start in Chaos.

These locations are going to generally be very simple, and don't involve complex counter-warding...just looking to give you good vision of general areas.

This section will cover basic warding locations for all roles in the early to mid-game, when most objectives (e.g. Towers) are still up.

Duo / Solo Lane Warding

Placing 2 wards at a time is your best bet to warn you of incoming enemies from multiple locations. Below are color-coded locations for pairs of wards depending on your aggressiveness in-lane.

Green: Locations for safest play. Gives you a good view of the main entrances to your lane to warn you of incoming ganks, but you won't have much advance warning.

Yellow: Same offensive ward location, but the defensive ward is pushed out a bit to give you a bit earlier warning from normal enemy jungle paths However, it will not help you spot an aggressive jungler that approaches from behind, near the buff camps.

Red: This provides you with great early warning in the offensive zone when pushing your lane. It doesn't cover your backside, however, so you'll be relying on your own skill and good communication with teammates to keep you alive.

Mid Lane Warding

Green: Safe as long as you're not pushing your lane, giving vision of the entrances to your lane so you can see incoming ganks. Best if you are playing conservatively and are looking for an early stalemate.

Yellow: Slightly more risky from the Duo side, since the enemy can approach from around the Damage Buff without being spotted. However, you gain a better view of the left harpy camp and earlier warning of enemies incoming from that side.

Red: Risky, and most effective if you've got support or are pushing your lane hard.

Per Estidien: You can also placing a ward directly in front of the enemy tower, which can give you a lot of information if you keep an eye on the mini-map. If they are sitting on the ward in mid, you know where they are. If their icons push further into the lane, you can assume they are pushing. If they go towards the right or left jungles you can make early calls on "Be Carefuls" or "Enemy Incoming" or you can assume they are doing their buff camps. If their icons move backwards towards their tower you can generally assume that they are going to one of the back pathways into the jungle, likely to clear camps.[/list]

Jungler / Objective Warding

This is a lot less straightforward. Generally, you just pick up the slack that everyone else hasn't taken care of.

Try to fill in the spots your teammates are missing. As a Jungler, you cover a lot of the map, so it's rather easy for you to ward the tough-to-access spots. If you ever see some place where you want to have a ward, just go place one the next time you're over there.

If your teammates aren't warding, you have to prioritize. Keep the main objectives (Mid camps, Gold Fury, and Fire Giant) warded first, and then start doing other spots once you get that under control.

Late-Game Warding

As objectives start to crumble, the distance between safe areas becomes further and further away, opening up the game to a lot more random play. Players will be less likely to be found in their starting lanes, and there will be teamfights aplenty. Warding during this time really helps your team coordinate attacks, or retreat in an out-numbered situation.

Late-Game Warding

Remember, minions act as moving wards in the lanes, and are able to spot nearby gods. If your towers are down, keep your minions pushed up as much as possible to provide eyes...if they're pushed back to your towers, your priority is to defend those towers.

Green: Safe spots. To allow you to push safely in nearby lanes, these are good places to cover enemy infiltration. If you don't know where the enemy is, don't push, especially not alone. These spots provide a good balance of revealing movement on your side of the map.

Yellow: Aggressive, and very useful. If you have these warded in addition to the greens, you can almost assuredly push lanes safely. Just make sure you keep your eyes on the minimap.

Red: High Risk, High Reward. If you have these, the enemy can barely leave base without you knowing where they are. This allows you to spot people out of position, and crash down on them for a kill.

Purple: Objectives / Buffs. Just a reminder to use a Sentry Ward, especially on the Fire Giant. In the late stages of a game when builds are completed, you won't worry much about the Gold Fury.

Awareness & Communication

A Conquest match can be very complex. Just considering yourself, you have to clear minion waves / camps, utilize abilities and mana in an efficient way, monitor gold to determine when to back, know build orders and how to counter-build, battle the enemy, watch out for other invaders trying to gank, etc. On top of all this, you have to realize that this is a map-wide struggle, and each of your teammates are going through the same thing!

Awareness

Maintaining general awareness of the various things going on in the game at any one time is thus a key aspect of gameplay. How can you expand your awareness beyond your own vicinity?

Besides relying on nearby wards pinging to notify you of enemy locations in the jungle, it's also important for you to use that nifty little mini-map in the top right corner of your screen...OFTEN. In fact, the general suggestion is:

Look at your minimap EVERY 5 SECONDS!

A quick glance can provide map awareness from your team's perspective, depending on the situation:

where your teammates are

where the minions are

timing for jungle / buff respawns

if enemies are contesting the same lane as a teammate

if enemies are alone or grouped up

if enemies are pushing an objective

However, if the enemy is out of the visual range of teammates, wards, and friendly minions/objectives, you won't know exactly where they are, making you and your teammates vulnerable to ganks and outnumbered situations. This is where team communication comes into play.

PC Communication Options

Typing to your team (start by pressing ENTER) can provide very specific details, but precious seconds are wasted while you stand still. There are two alternatives to typing.

The first communication option is using a chat program. SMITE has its own embedded system (which you can enable by going into Settings\Audio Tab and enabling in-game chat). Any people you're grouped with in a party (or if you're playing a ranked game) can use this feature.

The second optionis built directly into SMITE, and doesn't require any talking or lengthy typing. In fact, it can be the quickest, most efficient way to communicate with your team. This is where VGS (Voice Guided System) comes into play.

Pressing "V" initiates the VGS system. When the full command is inputted, not only does it list the command in chat for reading, but a preset voice audibly issues the statement, making it an immediately useful notification for teammates.

The various codes take some time to memorize, and even further time to become instinctual, but learning this system is key to effective teamwork. Not only can it gather teammates to efficiently take down objectives, but it can counter enemy strategies

The following are examples of extremely helpful commands in various situations...not all commands are covered here:

Common VGS Notifications

*NOTE* (1 / 2 / 3) is pressed when there is an option for choosing "left," "center," or "right" (respectively).

When referring to self, the initial command is VS instead of V.

Offensive Situations

Use these commands to bring teammates together to take lanes or objectives. The Gank command is useful in 1 v 1 situations when the enemy is overextending / vulnerable.

Attack! (VA)

(1 / 2 / 3) - Attack the (Left / Middle / Right) Lane!

F - Fire Giant

G - Gold Fury

M - Titan

Attack Tower! (VAT) (*note* Phoenix if towers are down)

(1 / 2 / 3) - Attack (Left / Middle / Right) Tower!

Gank! (VG)

(1 / 2 / 3) - Gank (Left / Middle / Right) Lane!

Defensive Situations

Use these commands to bring teammates together to defend lanes or objectives against a focused enemy push.

Defend (VD)

(1 / 2 / 3) - Defend the (Left / Middle / Right) Lane!

F - Fire Giant

G - Gold Fury

M - Titan

Help (VH)

(1 / 2 / 3) - Help (Left / Middle / Right) Lane!

S - Need Healing!

Awareness Warnings

These commands can warn teammates of enemy locations, possible ganks, global ultimates, or if the enemy laner goes missing (for a possible gank).

Enemies in the Jungle (VBJ)

(1 / 2) - Enemies in the (Left / Right) Jungle!

Careful (VC)

(1 / 2 / 3) - Be careful (Left / Middle / Right)!

J - Be careful in the Jungle!

Enemy Missing (VF)

(1 / 2 / 3) - Enemy missing (Left / Middle / Right)!

Enemy Returned (VT)

(1 / 2 / 3) - Enemies have returned (Left / Middle / Right)!

Enemies Incoming (VI)

(1 / 2 / 3) - Enemies incoming (Left / Middle / Right)!

Enemies (VB)

(1 / 2 / 3) - Enemies in (Left / Middle / Right) lane!

A - Enemy Ultimate Incoming!

General Statements

VVA - Ok!

VVN - No!

VVY - Yes!

VVB - Be right back!

VVVG - Group Up!

VVVR - Ultimate is ready!

VVVD - Ultimate is down (X seconds remaining)!

VVVA - Set up an ambush here!

Console Communication Options & VGS

Console players unfortunately don't have access to keyboards and thus can't type out complex commands or notifications. That said, microphones are generally very easy to obtain and set up, and it is highly, highly recommended to use them. Even if teammates aren't talking, it's very likely they can hear you.

As for the VGS system, as of Patch 5.3, it now has full VGS capabilities. Below are helpful visuals for both consoles for some of the main commands.

Tier Lists

Understand that tier lists are subjective. At the Pro level, god abilities and builds can be considered and analyzed almost to a science, but even at that level, things follow a trend. Trends (and the people that follow them!) can be fickle beasts, and each new game patch can alter the effectiveness of each god, item, build, etc.

The best way to consider a tier list may be as a general consideration of potential. Potential, though, depends not only on the god, but also on each player's skill level, the compositions of each team, and how well the teams work together.

At the casual level, then, there is a lot more leeway in everything. So, consult any tier list with discretion, but don't take it as gospel. Have fun, discuss with friends, and argue merits to your heart's content. That's part of what makes this game so fun!

The Word of Thoth: A SMITE Mechanics Guide: Great individual article from Flareb00t on some informative details about the calculations and formulas for damage, protections, etc. (A bit outdated, but much still applies)

Here is a list of some of the abbreviations / terms that are used in this guide:

Abbreviations & Terms

Gods & Roles:

ADC: Attack Damage Carry. Refers to a god (usually a Hunter) whose main form of attack is the basic one, and whose effectiveness usually peaks late-game, from having a full item build centered around max damage potential. Starts with the Support in Duo Lane.

Carry: To deal large amounts of damage and acquire many kills for your team. Some also use it as a substitute for Hunter, gold and item dependent gods that can be quite dangerous at later stages of the game.

Hyper-Carry: The extreme pinnacle of a carry. Able to absolutely demolish an enemy team given the right opportunity.

Jungler: A role usually played by an Assassin, whose main job is to farm jungle camps and roam, staying on the move to shift balances of power in favor of their team.

Tank: generally of the Warrior or Guardian class, built mainly with protection items. Generally plays the Support role. Also refers to someone who attempts to take the brunt of incoming damage to protect squishy teammates.

Bruiser: generally of the Warrior or Guardian class, built with both protection and damage items.

Gameplay Elements:

Dive / Tower-Dive: To attack an enemy underneath their tower to attempt to secure a kill, while understanding that you will be taking potentially heavy damage from the tower

Farm: Pertaining to how quickly someone earns gold and XP.

Feed: When someone dies multiple times to their enemy, providing them with easy gold / XP and allowing them to be significantly stronger

FG:Fire Giant

Focus: To target a specific enemy in a teamfight

Gank: To attack an enemy while they are off-guard in hopes of getting a kill. Typically pertains to gods from other lanes, or the Jungler.

GF:Gold Fury

Harass: Attacking enemy gods while in the laning phase, in order to bring their health down to set up a kill or force them out of the lane.

Initiate: To be the first to engage in a fight

Invade: To attempt to contest a jungle objective that an enemy team is trying to get.

Nuke: To deal burst damage, often as an AOE and at distance

Overextend: To be in an unsafe location too far into enemy territory, which makes them prime targets for ganks

Poke: A form of harass using long-range attacks to cause small / moderate damage in order to weaken the enemy while keeping a safe position

Split-Push: To push in two different spots at once in an attempt to destroy an objective.

Ability / Stat Terms:

AOE: Area Of Effect. Refers to abilities that have the ability to hit an area, rather than a single target.

CC: Crowd Control. An effect from an item or ability that limits or prevents an opponent from moving or taking action. Examples include slow, cripple, freeze, and silence.

CDR: CoolDown Reduction. Usually from items, this reduces the time it takes for your abilities to become available again after previous use.

DoT:Damage Over Time. After an attack connects, an effect continues to deal extra damage for a set period of time.

HP5: Health (Hit Points) regenerated per every 5 seconds

MP5: Mana (Mana Points) regenerated per every 5 seconds

RNG: Random Number Generator. Term used for effects (especially crit items) that have a percent chance to activate. Sometimes frowned upon as this brings a bit of luck into an otherwise skill-based game.

Penetration: A stat that helps bypass an enemy's inherent or item-based protection. Applies only to the god using an item with that stat.

Protection Reduction: A debuff stat that helps bypass an enemy's inherent or item-based protection, be it magical or physical. Since it debuffs the target, it applies to all gods with that type of damage attacking the target.

True Damage: damage that bypasses all enemy protections. Can be provided by abilities, or in rare cases where items provide enough penetration against low protection enemies

Conclusion

So that's it! Thanks for reading! I hope it's been helpful and enjoyable. Please feel free to provide feedback...let me know if you think any information is incorrect (objectively, not subjectively), or if I've missed some key information or topics (though, keep in mind that this is meant mostly as an overview, rather than providing very specific gameplay elements). I update this guide regularly, so you're welcome to check back frequently!

Thank you. I've been playing Smite for 6 weeks straight and this guide helped me to understand more about buff camps and what time is the camp most useful etc. Aldo Hunters build was great. Please keep this updated.

Another minor mistake I found. For the Freya start in the Starting Items section in the ADC section, it says you can buy 6 potions with hunters blessing + tiny trinket, but Tiny Trinket cots 550, not 500, so you can only buy 5 potions

FYI to everyone, I've published the S6 update to the Conquest guide. It's not complete but I've made a variety of adjustments, and want some feedback and people to catch mistakes or things I've missed.

In order for it to be fully complete, I need the official map from SMITE Wiki, as well as artwork for the Totem of Ku, etc. But for all intents and purposes, it's pretty much good to go.

Just wanted to say that Mage's Blessing, Magic Focus start is missing from mid starts. Also the doom orb start could also be named the Chronos' Pendant start since it's not just for Doom Orb.

Tier 2 Bancrofts start missing as well.

Also I don't really take Skadi as a solo laner, other hunters can do solo lane better and any could probably go there.

Also add Hera for support/solo.

And also add Achilles for support as well.

Also Merc support? May as well add Nemesis too I guess.

And lastly for the mage adc Chronos/sol start I would just change it to hunters blessing and tiny trinket (Especially Sol, who really doesen't use mage's blessing that well). There isn't a point in getting tier 1 boots with mage's blessing. Same for Freya. That is unless you want to list the hunters blessing, tier 1 celestial helm start.

Actually working on a lot of this right now. Conquest update in progress. Will probably post before the actual patch, and just continue working on it from there. Biggest thing is I won't have the maps updated until I get the actual maps from SMITE Wiki...that affects the overview chapter, the starting process sections of each role (maybe I'll only focus on Jungle/Solo for the new Totem), and the warding sections. What a pain in the ***!

FYI just because I don't want to, I'm not adding Nem in the Support list, but adding Hera Support/Solo. Making multiple starting items adjustments too.

Want one clarification...what's the purpose of the Magic Focus start? I don't see any of those 3 items being good early items, with perhaps some very, very situational use of Magus.

Fair enough for Nem support, doesen't have hard CC, and I've only seen it very few times, could be a "cheese" strat.

The purpose of the Magic focus start is due to it being the strongest early clear (with mage's blesssing) outside of tier 2 thoth/bancrofts for mages that can get divine/magus after boots (maybe deso too). Take Raijin, Agni etc.. for instance. Divine Ruin not being good early is questionable, saying "perhaps some very, very situational use of Magus" is very, very odd. It's one of the best pen items in the game that abuses the current season 5 version of Soul Reaver, not to mention helping magical teammates. How relevant Reaver is in season 6 remains to be seen,

Also thank you for taking the time to provide that level of detail...definitely helps make sure everything is covered for the start of S6.

Divine is situational, but sure, great against gods with healing in their kits. Magus early, my whole thought process there was about not needing that much pen that early...but I guess doing true damage that early is pretty nice. I get that.

Soul Reaver got a hard nerf. Hard. IMO. I don't see it being purchased much, at least not early anymore. And I'm only concerned with S6, not S5. So I'll add that start as I get the Magus thing in general.

Under your Camps, Structures, and Objectives section, for the Fire Giant, you explain that killing him rewards your team with the Fire Giant's Might Buff. However, the details of the buff are left out.

I think it could be beneficial to your guide to include the details of the buff for readers to consider.

SmiteFire & Smite

Smite is an online battleground between mythical gods. Players choose from a selection of gods, join session-based arena combat and use custom powers and team tactics against other players and minions. Smite is inspired by Defense of the Ancients (DotA) but instead of being above the action, the third-person camera brings you right into the combat. And, instead of clicking a map, you use WASD to move, dodge, and fight your way through the detailed graphics of SMITE's battlegrounds.